Judgement of the World
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By: Me when I read over it before posting it. Its not much, but its all I have.
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Once upon a time it had simply been 'Domino High' with multiple floors, the same as many high schools in the land restricted Japan. It was a typical high school that eventually became the school for a very unique young man. A brilliant young man who was able to take over a weapons manufacturing company and turn it into a gaming company, producing the highest quality of holograms for its time and level of technology. A young man who was 'not' going to tolerate being drawn in ANY form of gay porn just because the female populace couldn't contain themselves. So now it was a dueling academy that replaced the art and music programs with dueling classes. Because sometimes love songs were just as bad as the stuff coming out of the art classes.
The Dueling Academy had started off as a mere high school, but then the Momentum Project disaster happened, business' and homes were cut off and became part of Satellite. Which was when Kaiba allowed the school to be expanded and made to house the grade school as well. Converting it to much needed space after the disaster and allowing the High School to become what was 'now' the Domino Dueling Academy. Taller, reinforced for the protection of the children, it was an institution for education always motivating the students to develop intellectually or creatively, so long as gay porn of very select individuals were not involved.
For the students, school was a necessary evil that drilled in information into their brains when they would rather hang out with their friends. It was a set routine that happened to fill out their days like clock work. Education was a boring chore for a good number of the students, only the dueling aspect livened up their days. They would spend their days making memories with their friends and enemies. Laughter and tears, stress and relief all those things were contained within the institution beyond the gates.
For an orphan raised in the slums it was a distant dream. Education, a safe place to spend the day, safe places to play with friends, homes to go to, families that welcomed them. All things that he never got a chance to experience because of his father. A small table with parents and not having to compete against a large group of voices wanting attention from one lone harried orphanage matron. Only to start feeling ashamed because they were in the same boat as him because of his parents.
Pulling up to the school on his D-Wheel he quietly contemplated while behind him the jeep that Aki was riding in slowed to a stop as well. He pulled off his helmet while studying the school for a moment longer before he dismounted. He caught a glimpse of Aki walking towards him as he lifted up the seat to store his helmet. "The gates are closed."
"Yes, well they are closed when school begins and opens again after its over. Once the gates open we can go inside and wait. Though you might want to bring in your D-Wheel, its more visible so it would grab their attention easier. Also, it won't get ran over when the students are let out," she advised, joining him beside his ride. Ahead of them there was an old fashion clock that still dolled out the time with the eternal patience of time itself.
"You'll be going to this school as well?" Yusei asked, trying to figure out the layout of the school simply by looking it over.
"Yes, the higher the grade the higher the floor, so I'll be up there," she explained pointing to the upper floors. "The twins are on the ground floor, even now there's not enough children to take up a whole floor."
"What? Why not?" Yusei asked, slightly turning his head to look over at her then focusing more on the building.
"Population decline, father has noted its been a problem long before even we were ever born," Aki shrugged slightly, but a glance showed his frown and Yusei redirecting his focus onto her more intensely. Feeling that she had to elaborate she looking down recalling her talk with her father. "Our culture doesn't encourage children, they come off more as a burden than an asset or treasure. You've seen it even with the twins and how their parents leave them alone while they travel. The farm lands have all but died out, because any couple that has a child ends up with the child leaving. The child comes to the cities for the jobs and excitement and then fall into the same trap as everyone else in the city. So the laws have been changed over the decades to allow more foreigners into the country, the government thought that if we saw more couples with kids..." Aki shrugged slightly again, looking at Yusei ruefully for a moment. "But father says it doesn't work as well as the country needs, too low a birth rate, and no one has a solution. Even with the Momentum Project making energy limitless and clean..."
"Would you like to have a child?" It was the first thing Yusei could think to ask. The thought of the kids at the orphanage never being adopted was crippling. He, himself, didn't deserve to be adopted, but the other kids, Jack and Crow, they all deserved to be adopted. They deserved to have a family of their own. But if what Aki said was true, and she had no reason to lie, no one would have wanted them even 'if' they had been in Neo Domino the whole time. They lost their families due to the incident, now they would never have one again...
"I'm a witch remember?" Aki asked, her tone self depreciating and scornful. "Who would want to be with a witch? Not to mention a child possibly having my powers? I can just imagine her childhood."
"Aki, what you're learning about your abilities will be things that you can pass on to your child. Your parents didn't know how to handle your gifts-" he began only to have her break him off in annoyance.
"Gifts? You wouldn't think so-"
He turned to face her, grabbing her shoulders so she would turn to face him as well, his expression serious. "Yes, 'gifts'. I realize that your parents made the wrong calls. They should have been there, patient, there should have been someone who could help you through the process instead of use you like Divine did. But you're not going to master your abilities if you see them as a burden or just a disposable accessory." He could see her stony expression, the mask she wore when faced with something she didn't like to deal with. She didn't need that white featureless mask, the expression she wore was as cold as ice.
But in her silence her eyes went to his tattoo marking him a criminal for the rest of his life, and without thought she reached up to touch it. So long as she didn't use her powers she was perfectly normal on the skin surface, no one would bother her. But he would always be marked... why?
"Yusei, why did you get marked and tagged?" She asked, placing index finger just below his eye and tracing the path down. A single yellow triangle that pointed to his ear next to the uniform yellow path that cut its way down the left side of his face. So close even that when Yusei blinked she could see that it touched his lower eyelid smoothly.
"I left Satellite illegally," he answered it so simply, accepting a punishment for a crime. No defiance or arguments, or even a raised voice, just four words.
"Did it hurt?" She asked, her voice softer as she grew a bit more fascinated by the feeling of his facial muscles moving under her finger as he spoke.
"Yes, a great deal."
He accepted who he was, accepted the punishment that was meted out for breaking the rules with a simple stoic nature. He didn't let it define him, shape him or control his choices and realistically she couldn't either. Neither she or any child she had condemned to being 'monsters' unless they let it happen. She had to be strong enough for the child if they inherited her powers.
"I don't know, the thought of having a child kind of scares me," she confessed with a wistful smile on her lips. A husband and child, a family of her own and finally free of being alone floated through her thoughts.
It was the final bell of the day that broke through her thoughts, bringing her back to the present to focus on the gates before them. A man in a suit had left the building at some point of their discussion and approached the gates before them. He noticed them for all of a moment, pulling out the key necessary to unlock the gates so the students could leave only to really look at Yusei. It was as though the world decided to put emphasis to her earlier thoughts. While the man didn't give her a passing glance despite her powers, it was Yusei that caught his attention and instant distrust. Riding leathers, a criminal mark on his face, in a city where 'gangs' were synonymous with 'Satellite', it was only natural to not trust someone like Yusei. Or rather, not trust anyone who looked or fit a profile of 'dangerous', which Yusei certainly did.
"Ah, hello, my name is Izayoi, Aki I'll be attending school here soon," she began stepping between herself and the gate. Letting the man's focus fall on her and seeing that she trusted Yusei enough to let him stand behind her without fear. "We actually came because I wanted to show him where I will be attending."
"Izayoi? As in Senator Izayoi's daughter?" The man asked, his confusion mixing with his preexisting alarm. She nodded primly, wishing she had settled for a bit more formal attire when she had gone off to find Yusei. But it seemed enough as the man walked hurried to finish opening the gates. "Ah yes, your father notified us that you had a- a guest with you."
'Trust father', she thought in private amusement before she motioned for Yusei to guide his D-Wheel onto the property. Like a lady leading a lion in a way, she walked beside him while he pushed his ride along. Even as they moved along they heard the bell tolling out the time to release the students to the light of day. No argument from him, he complied to her will with just a gesture as though it was normal.
It didn't take any real time before the children came spilling out of the doors and onto the sidewalk of the school. They would make their way to the local train station and ride off towards where they lived. But today they saw something that pulled their attention away, in the shape of a red D-Wheel and a blue clad stranger by it.
"Here they come," Aki mused aloud for Yusei.
Her voice was so amused and almost carefree that Yusei regretted that nothing else came out her lightly painted lips. But even as he thought on it, the background noise became nothing but the happy chatter of children oohing and ahhing over him and his D-Wheel. Something that was so strange for him, as Yusei was not used to strangers welcoming him. The kids at the orphanage yes, but strangers? Some kids were clearly timid, after all he was much rougher around the edges than Jack and their apprehension made sense. While other children dared to come close to him to focus on his D-Wheel, and off in the distance he saw a familiar pair of aqua pig tails and aqua pony tail.
He relaxed at the sight of the twins as they bounded towards him with an eagerness that even his Mark resonated with. Not enough to glow and alarm anyone else, but it was a warm tingling that was given voice when Aki raised her hand and called out to the pair. He watched as the sea of children broke before the pair letting them get close to Yusei and Aki. So he knelt to the ground opening his arms and the twins eagerly threw themselves into them. Rua was already chatting excitedly about how they didn't know he was coming and how cool it was to see the two of them.
Seeing the supposedly 'dangerous' criminal hugging the twins made the new King seem more welcoming. Unlike Jack with his aloof nature that no one could get through, this King apparently had a more approachable personality. With the twins introducing their friends to the King and the girl with him, in fact there was some speculation as to who the girl was. The kids were warned away from touching the D-Wheel with just a glance from the King, but the girl with him was touching it and him with ease. Were they boyfriend and girlfriend?
"Are you staying for long? You can totally stay with us if you are!" Rua offered with excitement while the rest of his friends just stared in awe behind him.
Ruka was nodding then gave a cheerful, "here let me introduce you to our friends! This is Patty, the one with glasses is Tenpei, and he's Bob."
She pointed to each member of their little group, while Yusei gave each child a nod of acknowledgment causing their eyes to glow with excitement. The back of the growing crowd kept getting taller as higher grades were joining in, until Yusei could see what other teens his age looked like when they went to school.
But with the momentary distraction over he turned his head to look at Aki, unsure of what his itinerary for that day was. After all Aki had brought him over to see the twins, but what had she planned after that? She gave a light shrug and distracted the twins, and ultimately the whole gathering, by suggesting that they talk about it later.
He nodded his agreement to Aki's words, unwilling to discuss things when so many clearly eager children were listening. Than there were the older kids and teens, many looked excited to see him, which didn't bother him since it wasn't hostile stares. But there were a few guys more focused and looking more interested at Aki than he felt comfortable with. Which ended with the few of those guys glancing at him and seeing a warning look and backing down rather quickly. Challenging the Turbo Duel King was one thing, challenging a Turbo Duel King from Satellite who could physically beat you down as well was another.
The girls were another thing, some had looked at her in curiosity, some in resentment but were mostly focused on him. But these teens were probably her peers from before the Arcadia Movement, which implied they may have remembered her from when she couldn't control her abilities. Before he could think more on it though, the man from earlier began politely shooing the children off the grounds. With reminders of the train schedule and their parents getting worried, the children moved on with clear regret. Especially after Yusei got comfortable enough to actual start answering the children about the tournament.
The students waved their good byes as they ran off, a few turning to see the girl walk up next to the King with the twins and their own little group in front. She grabbed his elbow with one hand and waved good bye to the kids, while the King nodded and turned towards her. For the kids it was a cute family picture like scene and they were eager to find out more. While at the same time some of the older girls wondered how the Witch bespelled the King into her service.
"We'll meet you at your place, Rua?" Bob asked, his eyes wide with the excitement of spending time with the Turbo Duel King.
"Yeah sure!" Rua answered with just as much excitement before the three kids turned and ran for the gates of the school as well.
"You two can ride with me, and we'll follow Yusei," Aki informed the twins, placing her hands lightly on their shoulders.
The pair turned and looked up at her beaming with delight and nodded, sending their respective hair styles bouncing. Rua grabbed Aki's hand and began tugging eagerly while she glanced at Yusei to make sure the plan was ok. But Yusei was already turned towards his D-Wheel and getting his helmet out and on.
"Thanks for bringing big brother with you!" The twins could be heard as they trotted ahead while Yusei looked up at the academy one more time. The office worker was half way back to the building, and there were still people making their way out of the school looking at him from a distance. If he had gone to school, would he have been a better person for it? Would he have been one of those students who were afraid of someone who didn't fit into a prepackaged idea of what a good person should look like? Or would he have looked at such a stranger like an interesting oddity?
He shook his head like he would shake the thoughts away and rode off through the gates of the school. No point in questions or regrets.