Yu-gi-oh! GX
Lost Blue-Eyed Child

Chapter 4: The Next Step

Judai kept wandering while looking for clues and talking to people in the area for hours before he decided to head home late that afternoon. Along the way his cell phone started vibrating in his pocket. He looked at it and saw it read Austin O'Brian on the display, so he answered it right away.

"Hey, I see you noticed I activated a tracker," Judai began.

"Yes, so what's going on?" O'Brian asked casually.

"Nothing urgent, well it's kind of urgent, do you have a few minutes so I can explain?" Judai asked.

"Sure," O'Brian said.

Judai explained how he came across the mute girl that could see spirits, but there have been no missing child reports, so he and Asuka took her home to care for while the official investigation continued. He and Yubel thought there was something fishy and looked around, and there were some guys talking and acting like they were up to something so Judai wanted to see what they were up to because they might be a clue towards finding out where the girl came from and where she belongs.

"Well you were right about tracking this guy, he's been circling the same few blocks since the tracker was activated, I'll send you the data," O'Brian said.

"Interesting, I'm on my way home now, so I'll see it in a few minutes," Judai said. "I'll call you back," he added and they both hung up after O'Brian's acknowledgment.

Judai put his phone back in his pocket and proceeded on his way.

"Judai, look," Yubel stopped him.

"What?" Judai looked around.

"There, the flowers," Yubel pointed at an open flower shop.

Judai sighed in relief. Yubel always had a love of flowers. "Yes, they're nice," he said as he went over to look at them.

"You should buy some flowers for Asuka," Yubel said. "I like these ones," she looked at one variety of white ones.

"Okay, we'll get some of those and we can mix them into a bouquet," Judai said. "I'm going to get some of these red ones too. Think these look good together?"

"Nice choice, sir," the shop attendant said. It surprised Judai for a second.

"Oh, and do you have little bouquets, like for kids?" he asked the young woman.

"We have daisy bouquets at the counter, something like that?" she offered.

Yubel nodded so Judai nodded too. "Okay, I'll get one of those too." He followed the shop attendant to the counter so he could get ringed up and he picked out a colorful daisy bouquet for the girl.

"Are these for a special occasion? Birthday, anniversary, or something else?" the shop attendant asked while wrapping up the red and white flowers into a bouquet.

"Nope, just because," Judai shrugged. He figured he didn't have to explain it was for his wife due the wedding band on his finger. They were for Yubel, since Yubel liked them and wanted him to buy them. He knew the flowers could be for anybody in his life from the view of the attendant.

"Are these apology flowers?" she laughed nervously.

"Nope, just because," Judai repeated. The only time Judai got apology flowers for Asuka, it was actually just one flower, a rose, and it wasn't that she was actually angry with him, but he felt bad for canceling a date because of a duel. "I just got back from business overseas last night, so I'm doing something nice. Sometimes I make dinner, or we go out, and today is flowers," he explained.

"That's nice, well here you go," the shop attendant said after setting the bouquets down on the counter. Judai held up his card for the payment method and soon it was swiped and he got his receipt.

Once he left the shop he looked at Yubel. "Think she'll like them? I don't do flowers often."

"Oh yes," Yubel nodded. "I bet she'll even get out her mother's vase to put them in."

Judai carried the bouquets back home. As usual, he continued to keep an eye out, but didn't see anything of interest. Yubel didn't sense anything and Hane Kuriboh didn't noticed anything either. When he reached his complex, he checked the mail.

"I'm back," Judai announced when he finally got back inside.

He placed the mail on the table as Asuka approached from the living area. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Might have lead on something," he said. "I have to check some data, but here," he said and presented her the flowers in his other hand.

"What's this for?" she asked as she took the flowers and smelled them.

"Just because," he said. "Yubel picked out the white ones," he told her.

"They're nice, thank you both," she smiled. "I should get these in some water." She moved into the kitchen area and put the flowers down on the counter so she could reach for a vase. Yubel was right, Asuka did retrieve the vase her mother gave her.

Judai moved to the living area where the mute girl was playing a video game. It was one of the many duel simulation games Judai had picked up. This was one where you could design your character and the player has to duel through elemental levels and win better cards for your deck to beat the final boss. It was also single player. Many of the tournament style games Judai owned had the option of multiplayer, however he rarely used them when he had guests because they could just go outside and duel with their own decks and duel disks.

"I know you're probably itching to go home by now," Judai started to the girl. "Here's something to help you feel better," he grinned and presented the daisy bouquet. "You should show them to Asuka and see her flowers too," he said as he offered it to her.

The girl seemed happy. She looked at the flowers before hopping off the couch and running into the kitchen to show them to Asuka. Judai picked up his laptop and sat down on the couch to check out the data O'Brian sent him.

He looked over the map and every point the tracker recorded were in the same area and they never stopped in one place for long. They had circled the same half mile three times in this set of data. Judai was about to call O'Brian when he saw another set of data was sent to him, so he looked at it first.

It appeared the person that was being tracked had spent some time around the park Judai visited yesterday and had passed by this apartment complex just a short time ago. In fact, they might have been behind Judai by mere minutes. Just what were they up to just walking around this residential area after so much time circling the community areas? Judai considered they might live nearby, but his gut was telling him to be suspicious.

Judai felt a hand on his shoulder and looked behind him to see Asuka standing behind the couch. "Is everything alright?"

"Hard to say," he answered honestly. "I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet, but I have a suspicion that these two guys are looking for her and that something bad happened yesterday."

Asuka was silent as she thought about it. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"For now, I have to wait," he said. "How did things go with the kid while I was gone?"

Asuka thought for a moment. "Dr. Kouga called and we discussed some communication strategies to try, so after I was done on the phone, I tried a drawing exercise with her. I asked her to draw her family or her house, and she drew that," she pointed to the table Judai currently had his feet on.

Judai moved his laptop aside and picked up the papers. "Stick-figures," he chuckled.

"As you can see, there is a man, a woman, and a child," Asuka observed.

Judai looked at it again. There was a tall figure with short hair, a figure wearing a dress with long hair, and a child. "So she does have parents out there somewhere," he added.

"I think so," Asuka agreed.

"Wait, what's this?" Judai looked at some other papers with drawings. "Is this us?" he asked and Asuka nodded.

"I asked her to draw us, because I wanted to make sure the previous drawing wasn't just us, as you can see, there are a number of differences," she said. "For one, she drew Yubel."

Judai chuckled. "Yeah she did, I didn't think she had got a good look at Yubel." The male figure had spiky hair and the female figure was wearing Asuka's clothes and hairstyle. "Oh and there's Hane Kuriboh, that's so awesome!" he grinned and looked at the next one.

"There I asked for her to draw her house."

"That's a lot of windows for a house," Judai observed. "Think it's an apartment?"

"Very likely," Asuka nodded.

"Did she talk at all today?" Judai asked as the girl came back to them to sit with him on the couch.

"Not a word," Asuka said and looked like she was going to say something else, but paused. "I'll tell you later," she said.

Judai titled his head in confusion. "Alright." He picked up his laptop and moved to the table. "I'm going to make some phone calls," he informed.

The first call be made was short. Most of his conversations with O'Brian followed that trend though. O'Brian told Judai to figure out what the men he tracked were up to, because they were likely up to no good due to their travel pattern. If they were related to Judai's current mission, then great, if not, it was still something to be addressed.

Judai sighed heavily. "Work, work, work," he muttered as he typed some notes. "Oh yeah," he said to himself and picked up his phone again. "Gotta call Johan," he said. He nearly forgot again. It should be about nine o'clock in the morning there, so it was safe for Judai to call now and not disturb his friend's sleep nearly halfway around the world.

Their conversation lasted a little longer, but was still fairly short. Judai told him he would write him an email about his latest case so Johan could get back to his children who required his attention. When Judai hung up the phone, he noted the battery needed to be charged so he got up to put his cell phone on his dresser in the bedroom where he kept the charger.

He noticed one of the drawers was slightly ajar so he looked inside to find his clothes were already cleaned and put away. Asuka must have put them in the washer while he was gone. "Hey, Asuka?" he called for her when he exited their room.

"Yeah?" she responded.

"Do you do my laundry?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered and looked at him as he stood next to the couch.

"Thank you," he said. Judai wasn't expecting her to do it. "Tomorrow I think I'll make an all American breakfast," he grinned.

"Do we have the ingredients for that?" Asuka wondered.

"Yeah, I saw it last night," he nodded.

"It's been a while since I've had that kind of breakfast, even though I used to eat it all the time," she said.

"While you were in America?" Judai chuckled.

"Of course, there were some great places to eat around campus," she smiled fondly at the memory of her college days, the parts she got to have leisure time. She worked so hard that she didn't allow herself to have as much fun as she would have liked. American food was one of the few things she got to be adventurous about in college. Some was great, some was not. From the stories of Judai's worldly adventures, he visited America somewhat frequently and had also got to try many things while he was there, so they had plenty to talk about food-wise when they rekindled their friendship when they met up again.

Hane Kuriboh got Judai's attention to make him go back to the bedroom. Judai followed the small spirit and saw the display on his phone lit up from the doorway before he heard the vibration against the dresser. He quickly moved to answer it and was surprised by the name on displayed on the screen.

"Yugi?" he questioned himself before answering. "Hello," he began.

"Hi Judai, this is Yugi, it's been a while," the man on the other end began.

"Yes it has," Judai smiled pleasantly. "Is this call social or business?" Judai heard Yugi chuckle nervously. "It is business, isn't it? What's wrong?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," Yugi began. "You see, I'm in L.A. right now, I'll be back in Domino for this promotional event soon, but I just wanted to check how Domino is doing?"

Judai hummed to himself as he thought. "I was in Scandinavia up until yesterday, and before I could do anything I started working to help this lost child who can also see spirits find her parents and it hasn't been easy so far, so I haven't even been able to do a sweep of the city yet…"

Yugi was silent for a more than few seconds and Judai began to wonder if the call disconnected. "So nothing major is happening at least, that's a relief, I just had a feeling I should call and check on you."

"I understand, and even though I haven't sensed anything to worry about, I'll do a sweep soon," Judai assured. "This city, you know?" He added humorously.

Yugi chuckled. "It attracts weird trouble, I know," he said. "Oh by the way, have you heard about my upcoming event with my friend?"

"Oh yeah, I saw a poster while I was out yesterday," Judai nodded.

"I have some passes to give away, so if you're interesting in coming–"

"Whoa, are you serious?"

"Yes, could I come by when I get back to Domino and give them to you?" Yugi inquired. "It would be nice to see you again."

"Of course, it's been a while," Judai agreed. "Do you know what day you'll be back?"

"Unfortunately, not quite yet, just soon, but I will call you before I head over."

"Alright, works for me, I'll let Asuka know as well."

They finished up and Judai put his phone down again and made sure it was still charging.

"Huh, so many calls today, I must be popular," he chuckled at his own joke before heading back to the main room to tell Asuka.

Some time passed before Asuka decided to start on their dinner by herself, so Judai moved himself and his laptop back to the couch so he would be out of the way. He stared at the screen and tried to plan his next course of action. Really, he had done everything he could. All that was left was to keep looking and keep an eye on the people he was tracking in case they were connected to the girl somehow.

He finally turned off the laptop and started to help Asuka when someone knocked on the door. Judai moved to answer it and found Doctor Kouga on the other side.

"What brings you by?" Judai asked as he stepped aside to let the man enter.

"I told Asuka-san that I could possibly bring over a foster care package when I did an inspection of your home," he said.

"An inspection?" Judai repeated unhappily. "What's this about?"

"It's just standard procedure, really I just had to make sure you had a certain standard of living that was suitable for a child," Doctor Kouga explained.

"Uh-huh…" Judai frowned. No one inspected the roach infested Red Dorm years ago, which housed students too. It was far from standard compared to the other dorms. This apartment was a far cry from anything like the Red Dorm. While Judai was tolerant of certain living conditions, Asuka desired some comfort and security in her living space, which this apartment provided.

While Asuka greeted and spoke with the psychologist, Judai continued prepping dinner in the kitchen area as he listened to them. The foster care package was a bag with just a few items for the kid. It included a set of pajamas, a pair of pants with an elastic waistband, a simple t-shirt, a pair of socks and underwear, house slippers, a hairbrush, and a stuffed animal. If they needed anything else, they were urged to give him a call. When the girl's guardians were found or a more permanent arrangement settled in the event they are not found soon, they could simply pack up the bag and send it with her to keep.

"Thank you for bringing this stuff, I was about to ask my brother to get some of my childhood clothes from our parent's house, but he's already pretty busy that a trip out there on short notice would have been a hassle," she explained.

Asuka offered Doctor Kouga to stay for dinner, but he declined due to other business he had to attend to. To be polite, Asuka walked him outside and saw him get into his car, which was parked on the street. When she returned, dinner was all but ready.

"Thank you for taking over," Asuka said as she gathered the dished to get ready.

Judai chuckled. "You don't have to thank me," he said. "Hey, kid," he called over to the girl. "Take a seat over here and we'll eat," he told her. The girl was looking through the bag she had been given. When she sat down, the table was already being set with their side dishes.

After they ate, Asuka took the girl to the bath and gave her the new pajamas to dress in afterwards. Then she and Judai cleaned up the kitchen. "What's your plan for tomorrow?" she asked.

"I will probably head out with the kid, continue searching, I was thinking about looking for any apartment buildings that looks kind of like the picture she drew," he explained. "I'll keep talking to her too, hopefully she'll respond at some point."

"Alright," Asuka responded and then tidied up the living room area. She was about to close the curtains when she looked outside. "That's weird, I think that's Doctor Kouga's car, what is it still doing here?" she said.

"Huh?" Judai came up next to her and looked outside too. "The green one parked on the street side?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was sure I saw him get into that car when he was getting ready to leave," she said.

"Could be a different green car?" Judai suggested.

Asuka thought about it. "I guess it could, but what are the odds?" she asked.

Judai nodded at that and then noticed something. "I'm going to check something," he said and started for the door where he put on his shoes and jacket.

"Judai," Asuka stopped him when he put on his duel disk. "Be careful."

He smiled for her. "Sure," he said and opened the door.

Judai jogged through the parking lot and to the street where the green car was parked under a streetlamp. He frowned when he approached it. The lights inside the car were still on, the key was in the ignition, but the engine wasn't running, there was no sign of the doctor, and the driver side door was slightly ajar.

"As I thought…" he said and looked around. It was already fairly dark, even with the streetlamps. "But where did they go?" There were plenty of shadows for someone or something to hide in. Darkness wasn't enough to hide from him though.

"Judai," Yubel appeared. "Do you feel this?"

"Yeah." His eyes turned gold and he stared into the distance, closing in on something. "There," he said. He patted his deck to make sure it was still there and then ran off. He and Yubel knew this feeling well. There was a duel spirit here and it was still close.

Judai ran pretty far. He should have used the motorcycle at this rate. The spiritual energy he sensed was already fading. Whatever it was, it must have been summoned for only a minute. There wasn't a duel. He would have sensed a duel from inside his home. Whatever happened to Doctor Kouga was quick.

Hane Kuriboh jumped out from the deck and flew off ahead of him. Even in his surprise, Judai knew to follow the small spirit. He didn't like the direction he was heading. There was a group of warehouses just up ahead.

"Why is it always a warehouse?" Judai grumbled as he carefully followed Hane Kuriboh inside one which was clearly labeled as a rice storage center for some company.

It was very dark, but he didn't have a problem with that. He could see fine in the dark. Hane Kuriboh circled around him as the spirit tried to sense an exact location. Judai waited patiently until the spirit stopped looking and turned to him confused. He had the spirit return to the deck and looked around himself. There had to be a reason Hane Kuriboh came to this location.

"Doctor?" Judai called out as he walked silently between rows of highly stacked crates. "Doc, are you here?"

Judai heard a noise nearby and zeroed in on its source. Doctor Kouga was lying face down on the concrete.

"Doc!" Judai ran to him and rolled him over. "Are you okay? Say something."

The doctor looked at him. The man was obviously shaken up, but coming to. "Yuki-san, no, you should've have come," he said.

Judai pulled the man up to sit and held him up. "What are you talking about, who did this to you?"

Doctor Kouga grabbed Judai's jacket. "They're after her!"

"The kid?"

"I didn't tell them, I didn't tell them she was with you, but they probably already know, they must have followed me to you, I'm sorry…"

Judai frowned. "Put your arm around me, let's get you out of here," he said as he began to guide the man through the dark and outside.

When he put the man back down, he reached for his cellphone in his pocket so he could call an ambulance for the doctor. He reached in one pocket and then the other.

"Oh no," he said.

Back home, Judai's cellphone was buzzing repeatedly on his dresser as someone tried to call him. The display read Austin O'Brian.

Author's Note:

Things are happening. Will they ever get the mysterious child home?