Disclaimer: Oh God – why do I always forget this thing? I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh Gx or the charries… though I shall put em on my wish list XD
Now – on with the story…
Jaden was the first to realise anything was up with him. The brunette's words immediately snapped Chazz out of his kind of trance.
"Hey – Chazz, you okay?" Jaden blinked at him expectantly.
Chazz just stared down at him for a second and then was immediately on his feet, "I gotta go do… something," lame excuse, true, but right now Chazz couldn't care less. He just wanted to get out of the duelling arena and back to his room. The noise and the celebratory uproar in the hall somehow made it hard for Chazz to breathe; he couldn't think with all the clamour and that was something he desperately needed to do right now – think.
And so he ran for it. Well it started out bolting for the door which included pushing a couple of people to the floor by accident on his way, resulting in a couple of insults thrown his way but Chazz didn't care; he wasn't even listening. Once outside the duelling arena he stopped for a moment and lent against the wall, letting the cold stone sooth him slightly and let him calm down a little.
Jagger and Slade were coming to Duel Academy – his one sanctuary away from them, his one place he could actually be alone and not have to panic one of them would turn up in his face at any moment. The one place he felt safe.
Chazz sighed and pushed off the wall, starting to make his way back to his room. Maybe he could pack his bags and run for it; no wait – he'd already tried that and it hadn't worked. This time he had no back up plan, he'd have to do what he'd done for so many years but had thought himself blissfully, yet naively free from ever doing again last Spring, he was just going to have to put up with them.
Everyone knew about Slade and Jagger, after all the drama at the school duel where'd he'd lost for North Academy, and then they'd tried to buy out Duel Academy; everyone knew the older Princeton brothers bullied him. But Chazz had never told anyone anymore than that, in fact he'd never told anyone anything, they'd just seen and assumed.
Chazz had been sent to Duel Academy a long time ago, ever since his natural ability for duelling became apparent to the Princetons, and he was placed in Obelisk Blue immediately upon join up. Things had been fine the first couple of years; Slade and Jagger having always of hated Chazz through blame for the death of their parents, didn't bother him quite so much as they did later on life.
Everything was fine for Chazz, a part from the fact that he had to work almost obsessively hard to keep up with his brother's almost insane expectations of him. They wanted him to bed the best even at such a young age, even though it was near impossible. Then Chazz had lost a duel against a Ra yellow – it was fluke on the Ra's side, and a stupid mistake for Chazz who could've easily won the duel, but it wasn't good enough for Slade and Jagger.
And that was when, Chazz decided, it had all started – well really started. He'd started to get over tired, and couldn't concentrate on work, and his brothers pressurised him so much into making the grade, it was impossible for him to do so though. Chazz of course, was easily capable of exceeding all expectations but the pressure, and the late night studying and worrying got to him and he wasn't doing his best. So he'd found something to help him. It had been one or two at first. Mostly anti-depressants to stop him worrying about his brothers, then it had been energy steroids so he could stay awake all day and all night to study. It was around that time he got about one or two hours of sleep a night, if any, he's body was running on empty and he lost his appetite. However, his grades were going up from the persistent learning. But then Chazz found, although he was completely exhausted, he couldn't sleep – so sleeping pills were added to that list. Not light ones either, the heavy-duty kind which kept you sleeping for hours.
Chazz hated that time in his life, he couldn't do anything except study and try to be the best and every time he tried to achieve what his brother's wanted he fell just a little further from the mark. And then he had been demoted and that was when he really believed he had nothing left and he'd done the first, sensible thing, he'd ever done in his life, in his opinion anyway, he'd run away. Far away from anything that hurt, but only to realise he couldn't escape his problems – it sounded so awfully cliché but it was true, they stalked him like an evil smog at the back of his mind. But North Academy had been good, for a while. He'd been able to get rid of a little of what he'd run away from, namely the people at Duel Academy but then came the school duel, he'd lost and been humiliated in front of everyone from both schools, and even though that had really freed him of his brothers, for the time being anyway, the humiliation of the entire thing still hung around him.
But then, yet again, they'd turned up, to cut the story short he and Slade had duelled and finally he'd beaten his brothers at something, at least. And then he really had believed it was the end of it all – how naïve he'd been. For, if it had been over, life would've been fair; but a lesson Chazz had learned, perhaps the hard way, was that life was never, ever fair.
And then, for some reason, Slade and Jagger had turned up to collect him for the summer – it was… odd. The 'holidays' had been – Chazz didn't get to finish that thought as right at that moment a strange, annoying, yellow, half naked… being, appeared on his shoulder. Great. That was all he needed.
Before the thing could even open it's mouth Chazz growled a halfhearted, "Go away…" and swatted lamely at the creature with his hand as he walked.
"Hey Boss – isn't it great to be back? Didn't you really miss this place? And Jaden and Syrus and Alexis and all your other friends. You should go talk to them now. They haven't seen you all summer…"
Chazz sighed deeply and just let Ojama Yellow's babblings wash over him until the Ojama stopped; well that was a first, and just sat on Chazz's shoulder, the raven-haired boy could feel its eyes on him.
"Hey Boss, if you're really that worried about your brothers maybe you should go talk to Jaden or someone," Yellow suddenly piped up.
Chazz sent the creature a steely, sidelong glance, "I don't take advice from morons," he stated simply, and then added, "- and I'm not worried." Though, of course, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and the fact that he could almost feel his heart beat out of his chest whenever he thought about his brothers being at Duel Academy, proved that statement a lie.
"You know it's okay to be scared-" the Ojama started.
"I'm not scared!" Chazz interrupted him, glad for the almost deserted grounds, seeing as he'd yelled it. However, however much he wanted to fool himself, shouting it louder did not make it true. And when he realised the Ojama had caught him out, and was, perhaps, being a little wiser than him, he slapped at it again, this time with more force.
"You sound scared…"
"Chazz Princeton doesn't get scared!" Chazz exploded, and he swiped at the spirit again, "What do you know about it?! You're pathetic! You're not even real! Just – just go to hell!" he roared, and the little duel monster disappeared, leaving Chazz alone with his thoughts, not a particularly good combination.
The youngest Princeton sighed as he walked; relieved to see he was now only a short walk from his dorm room. What did that annoying thing know anyway? How the hell could it possibly understand anything about it…?! How the hell could it except to possible understand anything about anything!?
Chazz took the stairs to the upper part of the dorm two at a time, just anxious to get back to the warm security of his room, and forget about stupid Slade and stupid Jagger and the announcement he'd heard what must have been less than twenty minutes ago. He just wanted to lie on his bed and sleep, and not have to think about anything. He longed for a state of numbness to all feelings, and that was why he sped up when he came close to his door.
Placing a pale hand on the rough wood that constructed all of the doors in the Slifer dorm, Chazz pushed it open, only to have that same feeling of shock and dread he'd felt in the duelling arena after the announcement, return, ten fold, from what he saw inside.
"So – this is what it's like to be related to the shit of this world."
Chazz stared into the occupants of his room, and his brothers stared right back at him.
Chazz didn't speak, only balled his fists slightly to accumulate the strength of will to remain upright. Right now he wanted to turn and run. But he didn't. Because he knew he had to stay.
Because Chazz Princeton doesn't get scared.
A/N Alright, another chapter! Whoo! What a good cliff-hanger XD – dear lord that chapter was odd. I kinda changed my mind about it half way through, but then decided a brief history wouldn't hurt. Hope it didn't bore you too much… :P
Anyhoo, hey to my first (and possible only ) reviewers KeeperOfLostHope and Crimson Eye – glad you liked it… and is it only me or does this not show up on a search? Meh I dunno, I only write this stuff…
Apologise for the hopeless chapter. Next one will be better… promise…