Notes
Hi! This is the first of two short extra character focused stories from my other story, Family from another universe.
Did someone guess the character correctly? :D
For new readers, a lot will not make sense unless you read the other one first.
Sorry for any mistakes.
Enjoy!
Right PS – The Encounter
Summer was upon them.
It was her favorite time of year, and it wasn't because of the weather. Hot or cold temperature didn't bother her, each one had its good points. No, the reason she loved this season since she was a child was for something a little vainer… her birthday was this season. She always loved the big parties and great feasts her family and friends used to make to celebrate. With the passing of the years new dates had appeared which reinforced her love for summer. Her wedding anniversary, her husband's birthday and… her son's birthday. The latter may had become the most important reason for her love of summer.
As the season of his "birth", he used to be a vibrant, lovely, warm, and kind soul that only wanted to bring smiles to others. Call it a mother's bias, but she always knew he was meant for greatness, and he certainly did it. Make everyone happy and stop an interdimensional war were certainly great accomplishes, but in her books, rescue dear friends while doing all of that was an even greater one. Apparently so great an accomplish that he didn't make it out with his life. She knew the moment he let him go to another dimension, there was a possibility he wouldn't return to her. Maybe even she was fooled by his strong act and blinded by his bright personality.
This year he would have turned 20, a milestone, indeed. To leave behind teenage years and properly start adulthood. To her eyes, he was always going to be his baby, no matter the age. She always went all out for his birthdays, big party, sweet cake, and the best food for her dearest and only son. Unfortunately, this was a milestone that wasn't going to happen.
Her son's death turned a little bittersweet her love for summer.
Five years ago, her husband returned after a three-year disappearance with the most heartbreaking news; Yuya died during the final duel against the Professor in the Fusion Dimension when the ARC Machine exploded. And he wasn't the only one, the child with the same face as his son whom she only met once, Yuto, and two other boys died as well in the same battle. No need to say, in her opinion, Akaba Leo's punishment wasn't enough of one. Still alive while she lost the most important person of her live.
And so, summer just wasn't the same as before and the day of Yuya's birthday (the whole week of that day, actually) was a gloomy time for her. She didn't even have duels to distract her mind. It used to also bother Yuya as well, his birthday was in between tournaments during the little break for duelists. This year she wasn't even going to have kids in her house to spend the time with.
After the war, she basically forced Shiunin Sora from the Fusion Dimension to come live at the Sakaki household. He was also a victim of the war, although in a different manner from her son. His damage was related to all those years being a student in Academia, training for war and being brainwashed to defeat the other dimensions. Since the moment she met him, she was charmed by the young man who followed her son around like a lost puppy. She noticed Yuya became close to him and his desire to help his new friend. Some people thought she took him in to replace the child she lost, but she just wanted to help her son's friend. Also… she may have a soft spot for lost creatures, Yuya always told her they had too many pets.
Sora along with Yuzu, Gongenzaka, Sawatari, Serena, and many others usually came to the Sakaki house during that day to keep her and Yusho company, however, this year they were planning to visit some friends in Heartland City to celebrate Yuzu's victory in the last tournament and Yuya's birthday. Sora and Yuzu had talked about going on a vacation after the girl's last one had great results. They were a little reticent to do it that week, but conflicting schedules with many friends just made it possible on that date. She wasn't going to prevent them from having a good time, Yuzu's victory needed a big celebration, Sora could spend the last days of summer vacation doing something fun, and they could get the chance to catch up with friends from the other cities. This year was just going to be a quiet day with only Shuuzou, Yusho and her.
Her relationship with her husband had improved much since his return, not only he left her and Yuya without informing them of his objective, when he came back it was to the news of their son's death. Not the best impression after three years of disappearance. If his meals after coming back weren't as fulfilling as before… it was a little payback. Don't forget she used to be the leader of a biker gang; she did some questionable things in her young. She was hurt and her son was devastated, and during a long time Yuya was bullied because of his actions, even if his intentions were noble. He didn't return to the professional stage. He worked full time at You Show with his best friend, Shuuzou. He wasn't still that old to retire from dueling, but in his mind, he has done it enough. A former student of his from another city invited him to manage a new branch of You Show at Domino City, however, Yusho declined. That place had bad memories for him, and he didn't want to leave his family again.
Now, she was in the kitchen preparing some sandwiches for Sora. After finishing with those, she was going to start dinner. The fusion duelist was leaving today for his trip with his friends. She wanted him to eat something a little healthier, it's a miracle his teeth have put up with his sweets addiction.
"Hey Yoko, what're you preparing?" said the voice of Sora from behind her, making her jump a little. Even after five years, he still had the soldier training in him and managed to startle her many times when appearing out of nowhere.
"These are snacks for you to take and share with everyone for the trip," she explained. "Do you have everything? Toothpaste? Additional change of clothes?"
Sora let out a little chuckle.
"Yes, don't worry. I have traveled with less."
"Better to be prepared," she said with a little smile and soft tone. Comments like those were reminders of his difficult childhood. Hopefully, he'll enjoy the trip to Heartland City, it'll be the first time he visited since the end of the war.
"You didn't have to prepare food," said Sora, "I was thinking about buying something at the train station."
"No way! Leave it to you and you'll buy candies, better take this!" she insisted.
"…Thanks Yoko," he would still get shy with her and her husband when they were kind with him. "I'm sure everyone will like them too."
She gave him a smile which he returned. Then, he looked at the clock on the wall.
"I'm leaving now, I'm meeting with Yuzu and Serena at the park, and from there we'll go to the train station."
"Have a safe trip!" she said giving him the snacks.
He took them and was about to leave when he turned to look at her again.
"Are you sure—," she interrupted him before he got to finish that sentence.
"Have a good time! Say "hi" to everyone from me," she said with a smile on her face. It was enough to convince him. They had already talked about it and she and Yusho were going to be perfectly fine alone. He just nodded at her.
"I'm off!"
"I'm home!" shouted a male voice from the entrance of the Sakaki household. He was tall, with black hair and some white hairs, golden eyes, and a slight mustache and goatee. He was dressed in a performer's outfit and only took off his hat when entering. He was Sakaki Yusho, father and husband, and the pioneer of action dueling.
Umm, that's curious. Maybe Yoko's busy in the kitchen and didn't heard me, thought Yusho. Usually, Yoko would be in the living room by the time he came back and then they could dine together. When passing the kitchen and seeing some leftovers of sandwiches, he remembered Sora was leaving today with some friends to Heartland City to spend the last days of summer vacation there.
Maybe she accompanied him to the station, he thought, I'll send her a message and check if she plans to eat here or out.
He went to the stairs to the second floor with the intention of changing his clothes when a light from one of the rooms caught his attention. It was Yuya's room.
He let out a sigh. No matter how much time has passed, the loss of his child was something he would forever regret. He couldn't protect him from fighting in a war and couldn't protect him from being taken in front of his eyes. Even if Yuya was never his by blood, he was his and Yoko's son. He still hasn't told her wife the whole truth regarding the brothers and Yuya's actual death, in the end, their son would still be gone. At least, he never became Zarc.
He entered the room and found Yoko sitting on the bed looking at an album. This weekend was supposed to be Yuya's 20th birthday, a greater reminder about his missing presence. His entrance was no secret because Yoko acknowledged him quickly.
"Welcome home," she said, then let out a chuckle and pointed to a picture. "Since he was a little kid, he always wanted to follow your footsteps."
He took a seat beside her and looked at the picture. Yuya's first official duel at 10 years old, he was riding his Performapal Hip Hippo looking for actions cards. He let out a chuckle too.
"Along with Odd-Eyes, that monster was one of his favorites," he commented.
"Yes," she agreed and turned the next page. It was a picture of the three of them after one of Yusho's victories. Yusho was carrying Yuya on his shoulders, the child had the trophy and a big smile on his face, and Yoko was beside them helping to keep Yuya from falling down.
"He was always a happy child," she said.
He nodded.
"Our miracle child that magically appeared in our lives," Yoko said next while changing the page.
He wasn't surprised she already knew Yuya wasn't actually their blood. When the dimensions started to unite, some people's memories of past events were returning and others were noticing inconsistencies in events/places. These were in the minority as the original separation was almost a perfect split, and people who lived in a certain part of the original city were sent to their new respective dimension. The only memories not returning in any capacity were the ones related to Zarc. Akaba Leo was probably the single individual who had memories of the destruction of the Original Dimension. The Sakaki couple were especially affected, the same way as Shuuzou, because some years after the split they inexplicably got kids. Why them? Yusho wasn't sure. He had the theory Zarc wanted to make sure his parts became duelists, but the answer may never be uncovered.
"How long since you noticed?" he asked.
"When the dimensions started to unite," she explained, "however, a part of me has always known. I don't actually remember being pregnant and whenever I tried to think about it before the unification, the memories would simply not come to me. My memory would get fuzzy and then I just would not think about it."
"I'm the same," confirmed Yusho.
"I thought as much," she turned to another page and without looking at him said, "well, when are you going to tell me the other things you know?"
"Was I that obvious?" He let out a little laugh.
"We have been married for more than 20 years, I like to think I know you well," she turned to look him in the eyes and her face turned serious, "I was the leader of a gang, Yusho, I can take a few punches."
"That doesn't mean I want you to take them."
"Thank you for worrying about me, but good thing it's my decision," she said. "Maybe five years ago it would have been too much, with Yuya's loss still strong, but I think I can take it."
"…Very well, I'll tell you what actually happened."
He told her all events that happened five years ago after finding Leo in Academia.
He tried to talk down his old friend of continuing with his plans, but nothing was getting to him. Leo was trying to accomplish two things: first, to unite the four dimensions into a new one called the ARC V Dimension (the one they were now); and second, to recover his lost daughter, Akaba Ray. Leo told them the Original Dimension was destroyed by a powerful duelist called Zarc who managed to become a monster by uniting with his four most powerful dragons. Ray was the one who stopped Zarc, but in the process the dimension, Zarc and she divided in four. That part of the story wasn't common knowledge, people were told a catastrophic event occurred and the result was the separation of the world. Memories were modified and duel monsters returned to a more basic form, solid vision without mass.
Somehow, Leo recovered his memories of the old world and remembered his daughter. He managed to travel to the Fusion Dimension from Standard where he discovered Serena. Apparently, she was the vivid image of Ray when she was a child. He found out the world divided in four and along with it also Ray. She reincarnated in four girls, one in each dimension. Serena and Yuzu were two of those girls.
"That's the reason Yuzu was kidnapped during the Maiami Championship?" asked Yoko, remembering Yuya's short depressive episode when he learned of Yuzu's absence.
"Most probably, however, I believe she ended up in the Synchro Dimension due to some unforeseen circumstances. Ultimately, Leo was trying to collect the four girls to revive Ray. How exactly? I'm not sure," he said.
He let her think about his words for a moment, then she said something which shocked him a lot.
"Yuya was a reincarnation of Zarc the same way Yuzu was of Ray, right?"
"…Yes," he didn't want to confirm it, but the truth appeared right in front of him. His son almost lost himself in the duel against Leo. "I'm quite surprised you made the connection quickly."
"Well, you mentioned four dragons and four kids with the same face. In Yuya's funeral, there was an honorable mention of three other kids and Yuto, one of those included, had a remarkably similar face to Yuya. For a moment, I thought you had some fun before meeting me."
He let out a laugh for that last comment.
"Never, you have been and shall always be my one and only." She gave him a little peak on the lips.
"So, Yuya, Yuto and Zarc?" she asked next.
"You're correct. The two of them along with two others were the reincarnations of Zarc. I didn't know you got the chance to meet one of them?"
"Yeah, he presented himself as a friend of Yuya from the XYZ Dimension. I invited him to have dinner with us. He seemed like such a responsible child and was very concerned for Yuya's well-being… so sad he also died."
"…Yeah," he let out a dry laugh.
Worried about Yuya, eh? Which one?
"Their deaths were related to Zarc?" Yoko asked next.
"Not exactly."
He continued the explanation. After it became clear Leo wasn't going to stop on his own, he was about to start a duel with him when Yuya, Akaba Reiji and his brother Reira appeared. Yuya and Reiji were the ones who ended up dueling against Leo. During the duel, Yuya summoned the four dragons Leo talked about (in the moment, everyone was surprised he had them all), and he saw how a dark aura surrounded his son all the time the dragons were in the field; the atmosphere became quite ominous. Yuya was angry and was going to inflict physical damage to Leo, but it was a combined effort between all present people (Reiji, Reira, Yuto, Yuzu, and him) which managed to bring him back to himself.
"So Yuya was turning… evil?" she asked with disbelieve, "I can't believe that. He was always a kind and sweet child, always wanting to make people smile. Even at his most down, he never reacted with anger." When overwhelmed his usual response was to cry.
"I think he was losing himself to the original self, to Zarc. From what little Leo told us of him, he was a fantastic duelist who loved to duel, but started to become more violent in reaction to what the people demanded of him. When you push to far, even the happiest of people can succumb to anger."
"…I think I understand what you're saying," she said, thinking about Yuya's duel against Kachidoki Isao. It had felt like her son was someone else.
"And all the strange things which happened around Yuya can be attributed to Zarc," said Yusho. "The creation of a whole new summoning method and the change of Odd-Eyes Dragon into Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Zarc must have been quite powerful to fusion himself with duel monsters, why can't he prevent his total destruction and plan for his revival?"
"And Yuya and the three other kids were part of that plan?" she asked.
"Probably. I don't know what would have happened if Yuya had lost the battle against Zarc in that duel."
"But then, how exactly did Yuya die? I thought you were going to tell me he became a demon and you all fought him to stop him. Is Zarc gone?"
"I don't know what happened to Zarc. I don't know if Yuya's control over him was enough to stop him," he said, "And regarding the other thing… I don't know if you'll believe it."
"Try me."
They were betrayed by Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri. Those last two were the other two reincarnations of Zarc, however, they were never actually Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri. The three of them were some brothers from a different universe that ended up in our universe by unknown circumstances. They came in possession of the bodies of the original Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri, and had been manipulating part of the war for their own purpose. They wanted to bring their own brother to this universe.
"You mean…?"
"Yeah, Yuya," he sadly confirmed. "They used Leo's machine to open some kind of portal and bring their brother's spirit to this world. I don't know if they succeeded, they disappeared after… well, after the deed was done."
"And Yuya?" she asked with a worried expression.
He just negated with his head. She let out some tears and he moved closer to hug her. Her crying called the attention of their pets En and Core who entered the room. Core jumped to the bed next to her and En sat down by her feet. She was sure they still missed Yuya a lot.
"Hey guys," she said, "here to make me feel better? Or I guess you both miss him too."
"They are quite smart," said Yusho petting En.
They let the silence fall over them and just stayed in Yuya's room watching the sky getting dark. They continued looking at the family pictures in the album, making comments occasionally and recalling memories of simple times. One particular photo caught Yusho's attention. In it, Yoko was with some of her friends from her gang days. She was carrying Yuya while riding her motorcycle. Yuya must have been 5 years old.
"How long has it been since you have taken your bike and gone on a trip?"
She took a contemplative look.
"I think the last time was when Yuya was five or six, so maybe some 15 years," she said. Yoko was surprised with how long it has been!
"A long time," he commented, then turned to look at her with a grin on his face, "you should take your motorcycle and have a trip this weekend."
"What?!" She gave him an incredulous look.
"Exactly as I said, go travel a little, find a town in the middle of nowhere and have a little adventure."
"I can't leave you just like that, this weekend is—,"
"Shuuzou, En and Core are with me, go and have some fun. Celebrate Yuya's birthday by the beach this year."
"How about we go together?" she insisted. The idea didn't sound that bad, it was kind of tempting. Yuzu returned in much better spirits after her little vacation.
"No, it needs to be a Shooting Star Yoko time," he said. "Before we met, you used to do it all the time, just the road and you."
She still wasn't sure.
"Unless you don't want to do it, in which case we can stay home and spend the day together," he continued.
"…It sounds nice, to just go wherever the road takes me," she said slowly, "really nice, but don't you think I'm a little old for that."
"Age is just a number, if you're breathing, healthy enough and have the time nothing is stopping you."
"And will you be alright without me here?" Before Yuya, she used to take trips like those every other month, usually when Yusho was having duels in other cities and she didn't accompanied him. When Yuya came to their lives, the trips became more sporadic and after Yusho's disappearance, nonexistent. Even with Yusho back, she hadn't thought about going to one again.
"I will."
It was settled.
Yoko left the next day a little before sunrise to take advantage of the sunlight as much as possible. Even if she hadn't used it as much as before, she always kept her motorcycle in good condition. Bags weren't an issue either because she knew how to travel light. She didn't have any place to be nor a final destination, the road was her companion and it would take her wherever it wanted. She only took breaks for bathroom, eat, gas and to stretch her legs a little.
Due to the unification of the four cities, there were a lot of new roads she didn't recognize. Yusho had been right, this was a good idea. The feeling of the wind on her face had no compare. Everything was great, except when night was close approaching. She needed to find a place to stay, but even after an hour driving, all she saw were trees, no civilization. Driving in an unknown road at night was never a good idea. She stopped for a minute and luckily she had signal on her duel disk. A quick check on the map showed a close town just another hour away from her. Gas was still okay, so she could arrive without complications… or at least that's was she thought.
After almost 45 minutes, her motorcycle started losing speed until it shut down.
What the—? She thought.
She tried to start it again by turning the ignition, but it didn't work.
No! No! No! C'mon Comet, you need to work.
Her vehicle was dead. Yoko tried to see if there was a problem with it, the tires were fine, she never heard any strange noise while driving and all levels were okay. She even still had gas. Night was already upon her and using the light from her duel disk could spend the battery, so no more time to waste checking for the problem.
Guess I will walk, she thought.
The missing 10-minute drive turned into almost 2 hours of walking, but she finally arrived to the town.
Ranmachi? Never heard of it.
By this point she was even willing to stay in a dumpster if it meant to rest. Pushing a piece of 180 kg around was no easy feat. It was close to midnight by the time she located a repair shop which, to her luck, was still open. The office to attend customers was already closed, but next to it, there was a big open garage with cars, motorcycles and some D-Wheels in mid-repair. From there she could see some light peeking through.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" she asked.
Nobody answered.
"Excuse me! Is anyone here?!" she shouted this time.
She heard the sound of some tools being put on a metal tray and a minute later a young man appeared from the back. He was almost as tall as her and was dressed in some dark blue mechanic clothes which were a little dirty with oil. She couldn't see his face as he was wearing a welding helmet.
"I know it's late, but I need some help with my motorcycle," she said quickly, not letting him speak first.
"Umm, ma'am, I'm sorry, but it's—," he turned to look at a clock on the wall, "wow! Really late! We open at 10 am."
"Look, I know this isn't a good time, but I had to walk for two hours to come here. Can you please give her a quick check-up?" She was desperate, tired and in need of a bed.
Her appearance must have been pathetic because he changed his mind.
"Okay, let's give her a look!"
She was going to move her bike when the guy put his hand up to stop her.
"Let me!" he took out his helmet, put it on a table and went to take her motorcycle. "Give me some minutes and I'll tell you what's wrong with her. You can sit if you need, you look like hell, no offense."
Yoko didn't answer and took a sit on a nearby chair. She must be more exhausted than expected, she was pretty sure she just saw Yuya in front of her!
Well, it's close to his birthday, she thought, maybe I'm seeing things.
She wasn't the only one tired, as the young man who looked like Yuya let out a yawn while checking her motorcycle. Yoko let him work for some minutes in silence and when she almost fell asleep a second time, she decided to talk with him.
"What did you say your name was?"
"I'm—," he let out another yawn," —Yugo, Sakaki Yugo at your service." He was tired but still giving his best customer service treatment.
"Umm, I see."
They were betrayed by Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri.
"And you, ma'am," asked Yugo, "you are?"
"Call me… Yoko," she said, "I'm on a little road trip."
"Nice, those are the best. Then, you aren't from around here, right?"
"No, this is my first time here. Although I can't say I have seen a lot, considering how late I arrived." Yoko wanted to know something. "And you, Yugo? Do you live here?"
"Yeah," he was concentrating on his work and didn't notice what he was saying, "I live here with my brothers."
The three of them were some brothers from a different universe.
"Oh, with your brothers, must be fun."
"Fun? Yeah, it can be fun. At least with the four of us it's never quiet," he let out a chuckle.
Brothers from a different universe.
Umm.
She must have been thinking more deeply than she thought because she was surprised by Yugo when he called her name.
"Yoko! You okay?"
"…Yes, sorry, I'm a little tired." Maybe if she weren't so tired, the situation would warrant a bigger reaction from this possible revelation.
"Don't say, it's late. Anyway, I gave your motorcycle a quick overall checkup and I found two problems."
She nodded.
"First, the reason why it's not turning on is because you don't have gas."
"What?!" that certainly woke her up, "That can't be right, I checked the fuel meter and I still had a quarter left."
"And that's the second issue, your fuel meter is broken."
She just opened and closed her mouth like a fish. Well, she wasn't expecting that. Thinking back on it, she drove for a long time and the measurer never went down. She must have been distracted while admiring the view. Yoko just groaned, it was such an amateur mistake.
"Let it out," said Yugo, "it happens to the best of us."
"Can it be fixed?" If not, this vacation was going to be way shorter than planned.
"Of course! I can fix it!" he exclaimed with a grin on his face, then it went down and he continued, "… just not now, it's late."
"Right, thanks a lot Yugo."
"No problem, glad to help!" He went a little to the back to put away some tools.
Now, what to do? She was going to have to leave Comet in this repair shop and find a place to stay while she was fixed.
"Yugo, can you point me to the closest hotel?"
He turned to look at her and his expression was just the same as Yuya's when he was surprised.
"You don't have a reservation?"
"No, I was passing by and was planning to book a room for one night."
Now his expression turned worried.
"I can point you to the closest hotel, but I don't think you'll get a room."
"What do you mean?" Her day couldn't get any worse, can it?
"Is because of the season, the town receives a lot of travelers during summer. I'm pretty sure everything is booked."
She groaned again. It wouldn't be her first time sleeping under the stars, but she wasn't as young as before. Her back was going to complain all day tomorrow. Maybe Yugo could let her sleep in a couch in the store?
"I'm guessing you don't have any place to crash, right?" He asked.
"Your guess is correct." She was tired and ready for the day to end.
"You know… I—I mean, we have an extra room, if you want someplace to spend the night?" He wasn't going to let some lady camp alone in the forest, some animals were nocturnal and not scared of people.
"You sure?" Yoko wasn't going to pass this chance to sleep on a bed. Also, there was a chance she could see…
"Yeah, I don't think my brothers will mind."
"Yugo, you're a lifesaver."
"The best person you will ever meet," he gave her a big smile and a thumbs up. "We can leave your motorcycle here. Let me just grab some things, close the place and I'll meet you by the entrance."
Yugo went to the back to arrange some things and she went to Comet to take her backpack. Yoko was waiting outside, with the night sky over her and the sounds of nature around her, her mind started to wander. Could it be the young man who just helped her was the same Yugo, brother of Yuto, her husband had talked about? His similar appearance to Yuya was a dead giveaway, however, she was dead tired and the most recent things on her mind were thoughts about her son.
"Hey Yoko, you ready?" the voice of Yugo brought her out of her thoughts.
She turned to look at him, he was coming in her direction with his D-Wheel. She put on her helmet and went to sit behind him. When she was secured, he accelerated and they went on their way.
He drove for some 10 minutes to the outskirts of town. He certainly knew his way around the place, considering the only light they had was the one from the vehicle. Yoko was startled when they took a right turn and went through a hidden road surrounded by trees, lots of them. It didn't take long to arrive to a big fence which had an open section to enter. On the other side, the house was dark except for one light despite the late hour. When seeing the light, Yugo just let out a little sigh and mumbled something under his breath which she didn't manage to catch.
They left the D-Wheel in the garage which, thanks to the moonlight, Yoko saw had other vehicles as well. The two of them entered and Yugo guided her to the guest room. She didn't manage to see much of the inside, she was tired and only wanted to rest.
"Well, goodnight Yoko," murmured Yugo not wanting to disrupt the sleep of his sleeping brothers, as one of them was still awake. "See you tomorrow."
She just managed a small thanks before he was gone. She was so tired, she barely had the time to relieve herself and wash her teeth in the bathroom (noticing the room had one inside), and went directly to the bed.
Yoko thought she heard some voices speaking from some place in the house, but sleep quickly pulled her to dreamland.
It was the smell of food the one that woke her up. For a moment she forgot the events from last night and was confused about her surroundings. It took her a minute to remember everything, her motorcycle, the late night visit to the repair shop, the young man Yugo, his similar appearance to Yuya and his favor to let her sleep the night at the house he lived with his brothers. Now more rested, she took a little moment to think about everything. Was it a coincidence Yugo looked similar to Yuya or was he one of the boys who took her son? If it was the latter, could it be possible in this house in the middle of nowhere he was also here?
Just one way to find out.
She went to the bathroom to refresh a little and after finishing went in the direction of the amazing smell of food. She was hungry after the other day's events. Passing the stairs, she got closer to listen but remained out of sight.
"Cover your mouth if you're going to yawn, where the hell are the manners our dearest mother taught you?" asked a voice she had never heard before, however, it sounded familiar.
"Ah? I don't want to hear that—," another yawn,"—that from you!" exclaimed the voice of Yugo.
"Why did you even work so late yesterday?"
"I wanted to free my weekend from work to spend the day here today and for tomorrow's celebration," said Yugo.
"How considerate of you."
"I'm always considerate, bro," answered Yugo back.
"Hey, guys!" said a new voice which Yoko was sure she had hear before, "help me with breakfast… where's Yuya?"
Yuya!?
"Probably still sleeping," was the answer of the mysterious-familiar voice. She heard the sound of a chair moving and someone walking.
"When I returned last night, he was still up working on something."
"I don't care, we have breakfast together. Yugo, can you wake him up?"
"Sure can."
"Yugo, please don't—"
"YUYA!" The shout startled her enough to make her jump a little out of her hiding place.
"Yugo! Really?!" The person who said this was facing away from her. A young man with an apron who was putting plates with food on the table.
"What? It's the best way to— Oh!" Yugo noticed her, "Hey Yoko, good morning! I'm sorry, I completely forgot you were here."
The guy with the apron turned around at the same moment a different one entered the room. Yoko recognized the one with the apron as Yuto, the other one was still unknown, but considering his similar appearance to the other two and Yuya, he was probably Yuri; the last of the brothers her husband told her about. She wasn't the only one recognizing people as both of Yuri and Yuto's eyes went bigger with shock.
"How did you—?" was going to ask Yuri but a noise from the stairs caught the attention of everyone in the room.
"Good morning—," a yawn, "—dear brothers! Yuto, what's for breakfast? It smells amazing."
"Wait! Yuy—!" started to say Yuto.
It was too late. The last member of the house had arrived.
It is… thought the woman as she turned.
Yoko was the closest to him. She noticed right away how much he had grown, he was almost the same height as her. He was on his pajamas and had a surprised look on his face. She couldn't control herself when her eyes found the red ones of the young man in front of her.
"Yuya!" she hugged him. Tears were already going down her eyes. She never thought she could ever see him again.
Oh shit, she faintly heard from someone behind her, but all her attention was in her son between her arms.
"What—?" Yuya was shocked by this woman. With his eyes he tried to catch his brothers for answers.
"What's going on?" asked Yugo, he was as surprised as his younger brother.
"That's Sakaki Yoko!" exclaimed Yuri trying to convey the gravity of the situation, "Yuya's mother from this universe!"
Now Yuya and Yugo's eyes went as bigger as the others' two. The youngest brother in particular flinched in Yoko's arms. This was bad. This wasn't the same as Reiji or Yuzu, in those two cases, the brothers were more prepared to meet people their counterparts knew of. This was completely different, this was the original Yuya's mother! The guilt was too much for the youngest one and his eyes started to fill with tears.
"I—I'm not…" Yuya couldn't get his words out. In his mind, he didn't deserve to cry because he was the one who replaced the Sakaki Yuya of this universe. The other him that used to be a friend, son and inspiration for many different people.
Yoko noticed the younger man was trembling and took his face on his hands.
"Yuya? What is it?"
"I—I'm so—sorry, I'm no—I'm not… Yuya…," he couldn't say more, he lost the battle to his tears.
It was like a splash of cold water for Yoko. She suddenly remembered Yusho's words.
They came in possession of the bodies of the original Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri…
They used Leo's machine… to bring their brother's spirit to this world.
Oh, was the only thought that passed through her head.
Yoko let go of Yuya. Her mother instincts were telling her to comfort her son, but he wasn't actually hers, right? She quickly turned to the direction of the door and without looking at the other three guys, she went out.
She needed a moment.
The garden was lovely. It was well maintained and had a big variety of plants. She was sitting under the shade of a small gazebo listening to the sounds of nature around her and with only her thoughts as company. The weather and scenery were amazing, but she couldn't appreciate it. Yoko wasn't sure how much time passed since she left the house. It was the smell of food which make her known someone had come to look for her.
"So, who lost the bet to come here?" she asked without looking at the intruder.
"We thought I would be the best choice. Yuto feels guilty, Yugo feels bad, and for obvious reasons Yuya wasn't going to come."
"Oh."
"You must be hungry," it was Yuri. He brought with him some onigiri and a cup of tea, "Yugo told us the story of how you arrived here."
She went directly to the food, he was right and she was very hungry. He took a seat beside her, letting her eat in silence.
This is good, she thought. It make her think about the amazing smell of breakfast. She never got the chance to try it. She even made Yuya cry, hopefully, he ate something.
"I'm sorry," she said breaking their silence.
"What?" He sounded incredulous.
"For ruining your breakfast," she explained, "I hope my presence didn't ruined your appetites. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
Yuri just looked at her with a puzzled expression, then, he suddenly laughed.
Now Yoko was the confused one.
"Really, you're apologizing to us?" he asked. "It should be us the ones to apologize to you! We—we did something horrible to you."
"Yes, you three did, and I'll never forgive you for taking my son, no matter how many apologies you give me," she said without any sympathy in her voice.
Yoko thought Yuri was a strong person as he didn't avert his eyes from hers when listening to her words. He had a similar face to her son, but the look on his eyes was a more serious one. It was the same feeling when she met Yuto and Yugo. The four of them were different people even if they shared her son's face.
"Yusho told me your special circumstances, I know Yuya will never come back, however, I also know about Zarc and what could have happened if you three hadn't interfered."
"I'm sorry Yoko," he just said.
"I have mixed feelings about you three and I only came here to see… I don't know," she explained, not looking at the other. She let out a small sad laugh and continued, "I already knew Yuya was gone, I know the person I just saw is a different individual whose name happens to be Yuya too, I just… I forgot for a moment."
"I'm sorry Yoko, we all are."
She needed to change the subject.
"How did you knew who I really was? I only met Yuto."
"When we first arrived to this universe, I went to search for my brothers in the other dimensions. I found Yuya first and discovered he wasn't my brother. I did some research about him after that."
"I see, I suppose I'm not your mother in that other universe." It wasn't a question.
"No, she was someone else."
The silence started again.
Yoko wanted to be angrier at him. She wanted to be mad at the four of them, but she couldn't. Their brother Yuya was an innocent casualty and the other three brothers just wanted to save their baby brother. Also, she can't sense the three brothers as bad people.
"Yugo will fix your motorcycle today, you can leave tomorrow if you want," said Yuri.
"If I want?" She looked at him not understanding, they weren't going to force her out because of who she was?
"I think you deserve more than this hell of a reunion," he explained, "and, you're still our guest after all. What kind of hosts would we be if we kicked you out?" This last thing was said with a grin on his face.
Yoko was surprised but glad about this. She still wanted to talk a little with them. She wanted to know about them, the friends her son made and the brother who caused all of this in the first place.
On the other hand, Yuri was thinking that Yuya was right. They couldn't hide forever from the things they did. He got up and was going to leave her alone to think about his invitation when he remembered something.
"Yuya's room is on the second floor," he commented, "he's there right now working on something if you want to see him, and before you ask, he was the one who told me to tell you." With that he left.
Well, no time like the present.
There were two rooms on the second floor, but the one with a poster of many performapal Kuribohs on the door was the clue to guessing the correct one.
She knocked on the door and didn't had to wait long to receive an exclamation to enter.
The room was messy. She couldn't call it a complete chaos, but it was certainly full of stuff. The desk had several monitors and some books there. There was a laundry basket with clothes over it instead of inside. There was a table with cards, some trinkets and even more books. The bookcase had several figures of duel monsters characters, photos, materials for arts and crafts and… yes, more books. In a corner of the room she spotted some equipment for yoga and muscle training. There was even a whiteboard with several notes and complicated equations. The room had a balcony which was open, letting the summer breeze enter.
At least the bed was done.
Yuya was sitting in front of the computer and closed whatever he was working on to look at her. His face no longer had proof of having been crying earlier in the day.
"Hi! Welcome… ma'am," he said as a greeting.
"Yoko," ma'am made her feel old and from someone with her son's face it was a little strange, "please, call me Yoko."
"Okay, welcome Yoko! This is where the magic happens!" he declared with an ecstatic smile on his face. He extended his arms as if to present the room and from them came some confetti.
Oh, also an entertainer, she thought a little melancholy. He wasn't her son, but some things seemed to transcend universes.
"Can you actually work in here?" she asked with noticeable sarcasm.
"Now you sound like Yuto," he let out a chuckle, "this is my organized chaos. Magic requires lots of materials. The bigger the trick, the bigger the research."
"Well, the research part you have it covered," she went to the table and looked at the books there: "8 magic tricks to light up the party", "Dreams, learn to read them", "The particle of matter Vol. 5", "Kaiba+ Advanced Programming Rules", "The Complete History of the Reiwa Period", "The Human Experience: Understanding Body, Mind and Soul". Some of these had bookmarks and others notes sticking out.
"Wow," this was certainly a different person, "this is quite the selection. I thought you could use duel disks to read."
"You can," he explained, "but there's something about having the book in your hands, you know? You get a greater feeling when you're capable of touching something, after all, touch is one of the 5 human senses. We could apply that same logic to duel monsters cards. With today's technology we don't actually need to have physical cards, but we still print them." He showed her one of the cards on the desk, a little bird that curiously wore similar googles to Yuya's.
"Guess you're right."
He gave her a smile as an answer and then looked fondly at the card on his hand.
"Are you in college?" She was pretty sure he wasn't a dueltainer or normal entertainer, he couldn't pass under the radar. If he was the same age as her son, then higher education could be a possible path for him. Her Yuya was never much for studying more than was needed, except when dueling, then he was a walking calculator.
"Something like that," he said while looking at the balcony. After a moment, he turned to look at her and her questioning eyes and soft smile prompted him to elaborate more.
"I'm taking a bunch of general courses in anything that calls my attention."
"That's amazing, and do you enjoy it?"
"Yeah, it's just…," the look in the woman's eyes made him open up about one of his concerns. She may be the only appropriate adult-age person he's had the chance to speak with in the last years. "I'm almost 20 and I still don't know what I want to do with my life."
She let out a chuckle. This was such a normal everyday problem considering his whole existence in this universe.
"Your brothers don't have any advice for you?"
"They will support me no matter what I decide. I appreciate it but doesn't help me a lot. Since coming here they have been a little more indulgent with my ideas." He rolled his eyes.
"In families people tend to pamper the little ones."
He groaned which brought a laugh out of her. When she was with her gang, everyone gave extra attention to the young ones even when they didn't want it.
"Can you…?" he cut himself off.
Umm.
"You want my advice?" she guessed.
"Yes, please." She guessed right.
"Well, I'm no career counselor, Yuya, but let me tell you something important," she paused for dramatic effect, "20 is still quite young. You don't have to decide now."
His face showed he wasn't satisfied with her answer, the same one her son used to make when he wasn't impressed with her.
"Kid, if you aren't 20, then I more than double your age and I'm a mother. If I say you're still young, then you are."
"…I guess."
"Okay, let me tell you a boring story," maybe this story will work with this Yuya too, just with a different focus. "I didn't know what I wanted to do until I got married."
"And that was?"
"A housewife, and when Yuya came into our lives, a mother," he was surprised by her answer, she could tell. She wondered how much he knew about the circumstances of the Yuya of this universe. He came to her and Yusho's life in an unexpected way. "Life is full of turns and surprises, you'll never know what's coming next. Let things come naturally."
"Thanks Yoko." She wasn't sure if it was the correct thing to say, but his little smile was more satisfactory to her.
"In the meantime, it looks like you have many hobbies and… I don't want to sound like your parent, but you could maybe clean this place a little?" After being in there for a while, she has decided it wasn't messy, it was chaotic. Too much stuff everywhere.
He laughed.
"It's okay, I actually don't remember my mother much, so I don't know if she ever told me that. Usually it was Yuto and/or Yuri the ones to tell Yugo and me to clean our rooms, if not, they refused to play with us."
"Really?" She was curious, but didn't know how much it was okay to ask. "That sounds sneaky of them."
"Definitely, they had their methods to make us comply and do chores."
"I would love to hear some stories," baby stories were a weakness of hers.
"Are you going to stay?" he asked next, surprising her a little for the abrupt change of subject.
"For the moment I will," then she thought about her motorcycle, "it's not like I have another choice, Comet needs to be fixed."
"Comet?"
"My motorcycle."
"Ah!" He laughed, "Yugo did talk about that. He's fixing her right now, you know?"
"Yes," she said, "your brother Yuri told me."
"Then, are you leaving when she's okay?"
Yoko couldn't figure out Yuya's expression. His questions about staying make her think he wanted her to stay, but she couldn't understand why. She was a stranger to him.
"Do you want me to stay?"
"…It's lively with more people," he answered slowly, "I don't get the chance to interact with others much." He let out a chuckle and looked away from her, probably embarrassed by his confession.
Well, someone is desperate for human interaction, she thought. It was a little endearing.
"If you want, you can go," he continued quickly, "this situation must be awful for you."
"I think I heard tomorrow you'll have a celebration," she said, "maybe I'll leave after that. I do love parties."
Yuya looked shocked by her words.
"Oh, yeah," he said, and with a little less enthusiasm continued, "it's my birthday."
What!?
"It is?" she asked. "When you said you were turning 20 soon, you were referring to tomorrow?" He had the same birthday as her son.
"Yes."
He still had a sad smile on his face.
"Is there a problem with that?" asked the woman.
"It's just," elaborated Yuya, "tomorrow is also the day my world, mine and my brothers', was destroyed. It was the day my family, all my friends and everyone else died too."
That can certainly sour a birthday, she thought. Tomorrow she was going to spend the day by the beach, reminiscing about Yuya. If she had stayed back home, she would have done the same, but with company. That day had turned into a sad reminder… and she didn't want that. Her dearest baby would have never wanted that for her.
Guess I'll celebrate two birthdays this year.
"Sorry, forget I said that," he said. "My brothers try every year to make it a special celebration, so it's usually a good day."
"I see," she had an idea. "Do you like pancakes?"
"Eh?" that was out of the blue, "I guess I do. Yuto is not the best with desserts and cooks more Japanese-style food."
"Excellent. Where's Yugo?"
"…In the garage," he was still confused.
"Perfect, it was nice talking to you," she said and went to the door, "I'll see you at dinner."
Yuya was left in his room completely baffled.
After breakfast, Yugo went to retrieve Comet to start working on her right away, even if today was supposed to be his free day. He felt responsible for Yoko because he was the one to bring her to their house, even if his brothers told him it wasn't his fault as he didn't know. He even managed to make his younger brother cry when his birthday was already a sensitive topic for him.
He was looking at the parts he took out of the motorcycle to check if they were salvable or needed to be replaced. Yugo was impressed with the woman, she knew how to take care of her vehicle. As a D-Wheel enthusiast, he can appreciate a fellow biker's sense of responsibility. After all, driving a motorcycle was different than driving four wheel vehicles.
Yoko found the mechanic in the garage as Yuya told her.
"Yugo!" she shouted as a way of greeting, managing to surprise the young man.
"Yoko, what are you doing here?" Yuri had told them she went to talk with Yuya. "Comet is still not rea—"
"No time for that," she cut him off. "Can you take me to town? I need to buy something."
Eh?
Yuto was done with today's menu; it was katsudon. It was something a little heavier for dinner than what they were used to, but he wanted to prepare something nice for Yugo considering how bad he felt after the Yoko disaster of breakfast. He must probably also be hungry, as he went out with the woman some time ago and skipped lunch. The other three likewise had a light lunch to make space for a bigger dinner.
The eldest brother was now going to start preparing the cake for Yuya's birthday. He loved cooking. Before their mom died, he liked to spend time with her in the kitchen and help her. When they were kids and mom got sick, their dad used to spend a lot of time in the hospital with her, so he was the one to feed his brothers. He was proud of his skill, however, desserts have always been something of a challenge for him. Recently, thanks to his work at ODDs, he has been getting a lot of practice, but he still doesn't like them much.
The sound of a motorcycle caught his attention. It seemed Yoko and Yugo were back. He was a little scared of having to confront her. Of the four of them, he was the only one who had the chance to interact with her. He even promised her to protect her son… if she ended up hating him it was fair. The only thing he wasn't going to accept was if she hurt his brothers in any way, even if she had all the reason to do it.
He was too deep in his head because the presence of his thoughts main character surprised him when he turned to take milk out of the refrigerator; Yoko was in the kitchen with him.
"Hello Yuto," she said.
"Hello Yoko," he answered automatically.
"That smells good, are we going to have katsudon for dinner?"
"Yes."
"I've heard you're quite the young chef in this family," commented Yoko next, "I always knew you were a responsible one."
She caught him off guard. This was the same as the time they met. She managed to catch him spying on them and her expression gave nothing away. He didn't know how to answer.
"Nothing to say?" Her expression was still neutral. She was a more controlled mother than Yuzu had ever been with them.
"I—I'm sorry, Yoko."
"Umm."
"About Yu—"
"No matter what you or anyone of you say, I'll never forgive you three, you know that right?" Harsh truth right on his face and her expression was really severe.
"Yes."
"Then, don't you have a different thing to apologize for?"
What exactly…? Oh.
"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise," he said.
"Much better," she said, and to his surprise, gave him a little smile, "although I wouldn't say you didn't keep it. Yuya was safe for most of his journey, wasn't he? And from what I heard, he became good friends with the three of you."
He nodded.
"There's just something I want to know, was my son only a tool for you three?"
"He—" Yuto cut himself off. He was going to give her a truthful answer. "At the beginning we only saw him as a vessel for our little brother's soul. We thought we were doing him a favor because we knew about Zarc and what Yuya was fated to become. We eventually got to meet him, we saw his struggles, his duels, and his efforts to stop the war and save everyone." He was thinking about all the good moments he had with his brother's counterpart and let out a chuckle. "Heck, we even got him mixed up and called him brother between ourselves."
During his confession he hadn't looked at Yoko's face. He decided to face his judge head on and looked at her.
"He was a good friend, Yoko. I'm sorry things went this way."
"I'll tell you now, you don't save someone by killing them, and if you ever try something like that ever again, you'll see why I used to be the boss of a gang," she declared, "and with that out of the way, I suppose we can keep the peace. I don't hate you three—four, I just can't."
He wasn't expecting any of this. This was more than he deserved.
"This is getting too sentimental," she said next while inconspicuously removing a tear from her eye. "Yuya told me tomorrow's his birthday, I'm here to help you bake and for you to be my assistant while I make something better."
She signaled to the ingredients besides the sink.
"Yes, Yoko."
He had a penance to fulfill.
Dinner was a better affair. Food was great and the five of them spend a peaceful time. The brothers talked about their currents projects, works and a little bit about their past. They even filled some blanks in regards to some events of the war. This was interesting for Yuya too, as this was one of the first times his brothers opened up in detail about their own experiences. Yoko also discovered some interesting things, like the fact the young CEO of Akaba Corporation was aware of the brothers' existence and was partially sponsoring them, and that Yuzu had already met them during her vacation. That explained some things about the young fusion-pendulum duelist.
For her part, Yoko told them some stories about her gang days and their family's pets. She wasn't willing to share stories about her son and husband with them, maybe someday. She was surprised to discover they never had any pets while growing up. Apparently only Yuya used to have a bird (not the animal she expected him to have). Conversation eventually went to birthday celebrations and, even though Yuya wasn't completely enthusiastic, it was a lovely time.
All in all, it was a successful dinner.
The next day was much better for everyone from beginning to end. Yuya's brothers woke him up as was usual for his birthdays and everyone had some pancakes made by Yoko. This made Yugo and Yuya especially happy, their elder brothers were more about eating healthy food. Later, they spend the day together. Watching some of Yuya's favorite animated movies and playing some games together, duel monsters because you can't play at least some duels, and other classics like scrabble and monopoly. Yuto won by a big margin in the former and Yugo was the first to go bankrupt in the latter. Yoko could admit she was spending a good time.
Lunch consisted of Yuya's favorite meal, ramen, and for dessert they had some anpan made by Yoko with Yuto's help. This was her present for the birthday boy. The four brothers ended loving them very much, the eldest brother even wrote down the recipe while working with her. Close to dinner they just had the strawberry cake made by the two chefs of the house accompanied with a special brand of Yuri's tea, and the brothers gave their presents to Yuya. Yuto gave him a new reading tablet as his duel disk was running out of memory space, Yuri gave him a stylish winter jacket for the coming winter and Yugo gave him a bottle of sake. This was Yuya's 20th birthday, a very important one and when he can legally drink alcohol.
To end the celebration, the five of them went to the garden to have a drink under the stars. Close to midnight, the brothers surprised her when they poured sake for a sixth glass.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"Today's also my counterpart's birthday, right?" answered Yuya.
"20 is an important age!" exclaimed Yugo.
"We should celebrate," said Yuri.
Yuto just showed her a little cupcake with a single candle on it.
"…Thanks," she was close to tears and couldn't say anything more.
She blew the candle and looking at the stars just said:
"Happy birthday, Yuya."
"I'm home!" shouted Yoko at the entrance of the Sakaki household.
Yusho appeared from the kitchen to receive her. He also took her bag from her.
"So I heard from the sound of Comet," he said, "welcome home."
The two of them heard some sounds from upstairs. Sora used the pole to go down and went to receive her too. He returned first from his vacation with his friends.
"Welcome back, Yoko!" he said, "I was wondering when you were coming back, you took longer than me and we left almost at the same time."
"Sora's right," commented Yusho, "did you found a nice vacation spot?"
"Something interesting happened?" asked Sora next.
She negated with her head.
"For the most part it was a normal vacation," she said, "there were some nice views though."
She was going to keep her little vacation close to her for a while, after all, the two of them lied to her first. She hadn't been the leader of a biker gang for nothing.
Author notes
What I learned about myself is that I don't know how to do short stories hahaha This one ended up longer than I expected.
I have mixed feelings with this. The reason I did a flashforward in my other story is because writing and depicting everyone's reactions with the brothers' betrayal is complicated.
This was born because my mom made a comment about how as a mother she would want to know the whereabouts of their kids if something were to happen to them, like a closure. Yoko was like a cool mom type, so I have her be more relaxed, hopefully I did her justice.
My headcanon, Yuya is a summer child. Even if you are the same person but from a different universe I don't think you need to have the same birthday, hence the reason Yoko was surprised about the two Yuyas having the same one. Technically, in the anime, if the Yuu boys are the same person, they would share a birthday, no? Is something to think about. In the manga it depends. We know Yuya has a different birthday from the other three, and because I present them as triplets, they share the same birthday (for irony's sake I'm going to choose March 3) hahahaha
Thanks for reading!
