Judgement of the World

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

A/N: Stuff like this will be interesting seeing that I'm using the students of the GX series to flesh out the personality of the school in the 5Ds series. Oh well...

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The sky was a seemingly endless bright blue bowl that seemed to cradle the whole earth with its arms. Which she knew was incorrect, as they stood under the bright yellow sun another part of the world was shrouded in the blanket of darkness, sleeping. The newly completed bridge between Neo Domino and Satellite was pristine pale grays and stone white with a large blue tarp over the master center piece of the bridge like a bridge. Allowing both sides to view the stage while leaving the center piece high above hidden.

There were camera crews and reporters setting up for the ribbon cutting in the front while city officials were milling about seeking out their own positions on the stage. The podium was in place with the city officials posted on either side while Headmaster Samejima took to the steps ascending to search out for their position. Asuka and Ryo following behind him obediently with the calm collected 'coolness' as the Empress and Emperor of the Academy.

Before them was the stage and down below were the reporters and camera crew, while further out was the ocean. A steady wind accompanied the waves of the ocean, while not harsh it was enough to tug lightly at the skirt of Asuka's skirt and the coat tails of Ryo's coat.

"Smile Asuka," Ryo quietly instructed looking at Asuka's frown from the corner of his eye. "Your brother wouldn't be happy to see that frown on your face while you're on a stage before an audience."

Ryo watched as Asuka blinked up as though waking up from some deeper thoughts before looking up at him. She did smile for him, albeit a sad one, as though he had hit on what she had been thinking at the moment. Her stage loving older brother, the guy was light hearted and friendly, and probably the only person to see beyond Ryo's stern visage.

In fact Fubuki was the only person who could play both sides of the fence with expert ease, from casual and easy going to intense focus at the flip of an internal switch. Which often was what helped bring Yusuke out of his darker moods... Ironic how Yusuke had always feared being forgotten and Ryo only could wish he could forget the pain of losing his two best friends one after the other.

Instead being left behind to shoulder the loss while at the same time trying to help Asuka shoulder the loss of her brother. Just two people trying to deal with loss by sticking close together really. But Aki's presence was serving as a blessing of sorts, the isolation that Asuka had felt eased by the random, but privately welcomed, introduction of her Duel Spirit partner. The love and support from her deck was doing the duelist some good.

Save in the romance department where Ryo was literally the 'last' person to ask about said thing.

He could still vividly recall seeing Judai holding Aki's hands and passionately going on about something. Clearly her display of power allowing the whole 'school' to meet their own partners had made the guy excitable. Where as Aki had this barely restrained panicked look in her eyes, so much so that when she caught sight of Ryo, the pleading was palpable.

'Save me.'

It was enough to give him a faint snort of amusement. On the one hand Aki wanted nothing more than for Judai to leave her alone, while on the other hand Asuka was dying for him to notice her. If there had been any detractors to Aki's accidental display yesterday, he hadn't seen or heard of it, than again with her part of their social circle. He was confident that Kazu and Isao would look after everything while he and Asuka served as representatives for the school.

Though Judai had done Ryo a favor in getting Sho, his younger brother, to stop fixating on past mistakes. Perhaps to some it would seem strange that he was ok with his younger brother replacing him with Judai. It was true given that Sho seemed far more comfortable and relaxed in the Judais' presence than his own. If it made his younger brother happy, than Ryo wasn't going to stand in the way or get upset over it. While it did bother him that his own brother felt that he couldn't talk to Ryo, at least Sho had someone he 'could' talk to.

While Ryo's words brought Asuka's thoughts away from the lonely place she had mentally retreated to those often, and missed, days. Wishing that he was here with them once more, willing to even give up her friendship to Ryo if it meant getting Fubuki back.

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Fubuki hadn't come home.

Normally when Fubuki went out he wore some flashy outfit like one of those tourists visiting Hawaii. Or he wore some disguise when his fan club was going to be a detriment, like say, grocery shopping. There were days when Asuka would find herself pondering where her brother got all this insane amount of energy from. But last night, as she was passing the front door she found her brother sporting something new.

Something that didn't sit right with her.

A strange half face smokey black mask that he was in the process of tucking into his coat when he caught sight of her looking at him. He gave a half smile before drawing the mask back out and holding it before his face like an American masquerade mask. The mask had red eye covers and a jewel in the forehead of the same hue. Deep wine red in shade that went hauntingly well with the rest of the mask. Almost draconic in style she thought, which was odd because Fubuki didn't have a dragon deck.

But he 'did' enjoy playing off Ryo's traits for fun, a Prince to Ryo's Emperor, and Ryo had the Cyber Dragons that were of bright metal so maybe the mask was just another thing. He even had mentioned to her earlier that he was going to go visit Ryo! And while she knew the Marufuji's it was mostly as her brothers' 'tag along' rather than actual friendship. So it was nothing to think that her brother would up and go somewhere with Ryo without her.

Only it 'was' weird for him to neither return or called to let her know that something happened. Now it was time to go to school and she was forced to go alone, something that she often dreamed of doing. Especially when Fubuki would rattle on and on about going into show business and such. But now that she 'was' alone without knowing the reason why she suddenly felt naked and vulnerable.

Asuka kept discreetly looking about, nothing more than the shift of her eyes to the left and right, finding excuses to look behind her. Just checking to see if her brother was somewhere running up to meet her. Checking each vehicle that drove by to see if Fubuki was in the passenger side hoping to see his face somewhere.

Up ahead she saw Ryo and Yusuke standing there, relief washing over her since Ryo was here. He was here meaning that Fubuki was as well, and she began mentally going over the script of things she would say to her brother for making her worry this way. She had multiple pre-thought scripts for various things her brother was prone to do. Only this was just so unique she had to decide between the various scripts to go for. While Asuka promptly began scanning the area around the two older teens to see where her brother was.

The pair turned to see her walking up to them with a determined stride and fully turned towards her direction. As ever Ryo took the lead while Yusuke followed behind as they began walking towards her as the students who also waited for the local transit service moved out of the way for him. Still no Fubuki, but at least she would get a straight answer out of Ryo. Even if he was Fubuki's friend and not hers, at least he treated her with consideration and respect. Probably something that came from being an older brother himself...

"Tenjoin, where is Fubuki? Is he not feeling well?"

The lone two sentences were enough to stop her script writing, and her thoughts were ground to a halt. The sea of worry that she had been wading out of when she saw Ryo, after convincing herself that Fubuki's unslept in bed was because he had spent the night out with Ryo, crashed back in, a tide that returned. She looked up at Ryo wanting him to be kidding, joking around, but that was Fubuki's thing, Ryo was always the straight man to anything Fubuki came up with.

Even now.

"Isn't... he with you?" She asked, feeling a twist in her gut at how her voice broke when she tried to sound confident. Embarrassed that she probably appeared like a fragile 13 year old when she was often the more responsible one between her and her brother. But as she was looking between Ryo and Yusuke, the pair looked over her head behind her. As though they fully expected him to leap out from behind some building or bush to surprise the trio.

"No, why would he be with me?" Ryo answered, polite concern deepened into a stronger concern, glancing at Yusuke before turning to look down at her again. His arms, that had been crossed as per his normal posture, dropped down to his side as though inviting Asuka to explain herself. While scanning above her head for the self proclaimed 'Blizzard Prince'. Yet all he saw was the same street he always saw when he saw Fubuki and his little sister approach. There were other people, students and adults, going to work walking along yet there wasn't a sign of Fubuki.

"He said he was going to hang out with you yesterday," Asuka answered in mounting concern her tone turning slight accusing. Was this a joke? Was all this some prank her brother managed to convince the others to join in? But any distrust died as she saw the confusion enter Ryo's eyes. Marufuji may have had a great duelist face, but at that moment it dropped. Expressing honest concern that when Ryo began shaking his head in denial she blurted out, "Where is he then? He didn't come home or call!"

Ryo had stood there silently placing his hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her before giving Yusuke a questioning look. Yusuke blinked in surprise before shaking his head in mild confusion and deep worry.

"Maybe he'll show up after school? Why don't we just go to class, and if he doesn't show up at any of our places after school we'll go and start looking for him ourselves?" Yusuke offered, his tone was a mixture of concern and comfort, and he also placed his hand on Asuka's shoulder in an effort to comfort the girl.

It was the only comfort that she could depend on for the rest of the day, and the following days when her parents realized that Fubuki was missing. The day she skipped school because she had to help file the report. And the first time someone had looked her in the eye and referred to her as the 'last person to see him alive.'

Those words, 'last person to see him alive' invoking the now very real possibility that he was dead. The first time she was forced to confront the very real concept of 'death' of a family member. There was something about having to sit in a Security building and give a testimony to a officer as your own 'brother' was being reported as missing. Something about everyone looking at you as you stood with your parents pleading for information about your older brother. The professional sympathy from young cops, the jaded sympathy of older cops who clearly seemed to have a different story as to what happened to Fubuki.

The silence at home where he used to be heard singing or dramatically reading the synop of shows by using voices opposite of its genre.

There was never a ransom note for his return, so eventually they ruled out kidnapping. He was too old to be retrained to accept the kidnappers as his parents after all. Then Security had combed through the room, upturning everything as they looked for 'clues' regarding her brother. While she stood huddled against the door frame watching them, upset that they were messing up her brothers' room.

They called it 'looking for clues'...

They meant 'did he leave a suicide note'...

And all she could remember after that was Marufuji and Fujiwara dropping by, the feeling of Ryos' arms wrapped around her as he hugged her. Bringing her to the couch in the living room and not bothering to talk, rather simply holding her as she cried. Fubuki wasn't suicidal! All the while Yusuke argued with the officers that it wasn't suicide! That Fubuki 'was' missing and didn't just throw himself off the cliffs around the city or something! Begging the officers not to give up on Fubuki!

And weeks after that...

Ryo and Yusuke became her friends as they showed up at her door every day to walk her to school on Fubuki's behalf. Yusuke going with her every day to comb the city looking for Fubuki, and his arguments with Security when they turned the case to a cold file. Until finally even Yusuke was gone, Security, finally convincing someone to 'take' Yusuke in, and removed him from Neo Domino all together. And suddenly Asuka became afraid of asking, afraid that if she kept pushing Ryo would disappear.

And he was all she had left.

At her door every morning to walk her to school on Fubuki's behalf until Kazu and Isao eased into Ryo's painfully small social circle. So that the four of them would walk to school as though the world was normal...

Years...

Now there was a Fubuki shaped hole in her heart as the 13 year old girl was now 15. After Security officers were done violating Fubuki's room both her mom and herself went about putting it back together. After that it was closed off so guests wouldn't accidentally walk and touch something that didn't belong to them...

And now?

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"Fubuki would never let me live this down... If he saw me standing on a stage..." Asuka finally escaped her thoughts as she looked out among the crowd that was settling down for the unveiling.

"He certainly wouldn't have let you leave wearing anything less than for a stage show." Ryo agreed, nostalgia tinting his voice.

"He's a good boy. I don't know where he is, but I won't believe he's gone until there is physical proof. So you two don't give up either," Headmaster Samejima noted softly, though he didn't turn to speak to the pair behind him.

Asuka had never been more grateful for a pompous windbag to start talking than she did at that moment as she blinked away the sudden tears that glistened her eyes...

"WELCOME PEOPLE OF NEO DOMINO!"

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Yusei climbed the fire escape of the building as he ascended to the roof of the building, seeing as there was a thick crowd of people on the road. Seemingly taking up both sides of the newly made road uniting Satellite with Neo Domino. Cars choked the parking spaces along the road approaching the event. Making Yusei grateful had a D-Wheel instead of a car, easier to maneuver around and park in an alleyway, hidden under a tarp.

This building was one of those buildings that survived Zero Reverse, and thus was the closest to the event and would afford him the best view. There was no need for binoculars as a pair of large televisions had been presented to show what was going on stage. But Yusei wasn't here to listen to the leaders of the city grandstand. He was only here to see the reveal of the bridge that would finally give the people of Satellite hope.

But there was already someone standing on the roof, clad in smokey black with his back facing Yusei. The coat was long, reaching the ankles, with thick black boots under them, while dark brown hair was brushed into a sleek style. The black clad stranger stood there with his hand raised as though looking at something in his hand.

As Yusei got closer he could see the green edgework of a spell card, but as he glanced at his person's face he was taken by the mask the man wore. And while the hair was wrong the mask matched what he saw earlier in the window!

"Sis is on stage... Asuka..."