Note: This is only a pilot to test the waters of a possible idea I have for a Zexal gender-bender story. The following fic is subject to change when and if I decide to do something with it.
Heartland City was as vibrant and peaceful as ever today, students from Heartland Middle School cheering as their school day came to an end, heading home for the weekend. One, however, Kotori Mizuki, gave a somewhat weary sigh as she left the Academy behind the thick of the crowd, carrying a stack books and papers.
One of her closest friends, Yuma Tsukumo, had been sick the past few days, missing quite a bit of school, so she saw it only fitting that she bring him the homework and other such assignments that he missed... not that he'd actually do them, she knew, but it seemed like a nice enough gesture that she couldn't not at least offer to do it.
On her way, though, she caught a glimpse of a local Duel Monsters card shop; one that Yuma and the others frequented, at that, and decided to go inside.
Kotori had never actually dueled before, though wasn't as though she didn't know any of the rules; she had never really found the initiative to try it, and for that matter, she didn't quite have the money for a duel disk and D-gazer combo, much less the money for a deck. But then, getting full dueling gear wasn't what she was here for in the first place.
"Hey there." The card shop owner greeted Kotori as she came inside. "You're one of Yuma's friends, right?"
"Yes." Kotori nodded, placing her school bag and Yuma's homework down on a shelf.
"I haven't seen him here in a while." The shop owner mused. "How come?"
"He's been sick." Kotori answered, scanning the booster packs. "Anyway, I thought I might get him a pack as a little gift or something."
"Cute." The store owner grinned. "Well, a new booster pack series just came in today. Interested?"
"Sure." Kotori agreed, buying about four packs before leaving the store. "Thank you, mister."
"Have a nice day."
Just as she left the store though, Kotori couldn't help but admit curiosity about what kind of cards were inside.
"Just one won't hurt." She shrugged, breaking one open and examining the ten cards that were inside. She actually recognized one or two cards from previous adventures, while several others she never even heard of. But it was the last card at the bottom of the short stack that grabbed her attention; one she was plenty familiar with.
"Gagaga Girl!" she gasped excitedly.
Despite not being a duelist, Kotori couldn't deny, if there was one card she wanted to personally own, it was Gagaga Girl, if only for its pretty design. She slipped the Gagaga Girl card into her school bag, stuck the opened cards and booster packs with the rest of Yuma's missed schoolwork, and trotted off to his house, where she was greeted by his older sister, Akari.
"Hey, Kotori." She greeted her brother's friend. "You here for your boyfriend?" She teased.
"Is not!" Kotori pouted indignantly at her joke. "And I just came to deliver the schoolwork he missed."
"Okay. Go on ahead, then." Akari grinned, letting Kotori inside.
Kotori knocked on Yuma's door, but there was no response from inside. Knowing Yuma must still be in bed, she entered quietly and walked carefully up a stepladder, peering into an attic-like room with many treasures and artiacts decorating its interior, a curtain drawn over the one window, shrouding the room in darkness, a young boy snoozing in a hammock near the trapdoor, wrapped from head to toe in blankets, only part of his spiky pink hair sticking out... wait, pink?
"Hello, Kotori." A spectral blue figure greeted her from Yuma's side. "I'm afraid Yuma still cannot come out at the moment."
"I know," Kotori said sheepishly. "But I came here to bring him the schoolwork he missed in the past few days. Oh, and some cards he might like." She showed Yuma's ethereal companion the items she had brought for her ill friend.
"Thank you very much for this favor, Kotori." Astral gave a polite little bow of his head. "I'm sure Yuma would be very pleased to see these cards... though, maybe not as much the books..."
"I know." Kotori chuckled. "It was no problem." She eyed the bit of pink hair sticking out from the blanket cocoon. She could have sworn it was more of a red... "Do you have any idea what happened to him?" She asked. "He seemed perfectly fine up until recently."
"I am unsure myself." Astral said, peering at his sleeping companion. "He does not seem quite ill, yet he insists that he is."
"Wait... Are you serious?! Is he really just trying to worm his way out of class?!" Kotori growled.
"Doubtful, as much as I would find such a thing believable for Yuma." Astral mused. "While he hardly seems sick, I have noticed that he is quite... different from before."
"Different?" Kotori blinked. "Different... how?"
"He hasn't spoken very much since he first fell 'ill'..." Astral didn't exactly mind it when Yuma was quiet, but it struck him as very strange regardless. "...However, the few times he has spoken, his voice is oddly different than before, and while he's stayed wrapped up rather consistently as you see," He indicated the heap of blankets resting on the hammock. "His appearance, or rather what little I've seen of it, has changed as well. I'm sure you've noticed his hair?"
"What happened to him?" Kotori asked, inching closer to Yuma. She very slowly and carefully pulled back the covers in hopes of getting a better look at him.
"I am unsure. But he has been quite insistent that nobody look at him, not even his grandmother or sister, who have been up here to check in on him several times a day."
Kotori had moved the covers back just enough to see part of Yuma's face, but for the split second she saw him before he had yanked them back over himself, she could barely recognize him, as his face had become a bit softer and more rounded, and his hair was now indeed a fine, unmistakable shade of pink.
"Don't do that, sis...!" He mumbled in his sleep, turning over in his blanket cocoon.
"Is... Is that really Yuma?" Kotori blinked.
"I have little doubt." Astral confirmed. "As that person possesses the Emperor's Key, and it has not left Yuma's person for many months, I think that it is highly unlikely that this person could be anybody other than Yuma Tsukumo." Astral hesitated for a moment, then turned to Kotori curiously. "Kotori? Is it possible that Yuma is in a state where we might die if we saw him right now?"
Kotori looked incredulously at Astral for a moment, unable to think that he could either be serious or joking; he was far too intelligent to actually think something so strange ludicrous, and he was too serious to make any kind of jokes, much less one so bad.
"Um, I'm sorry... what?" Was all Kotori could manage to say in response.
"Yuma told me once that if one saw a human as they were expelling energy, they would die instantly." Astral clarified. "I take it that there are other such states one could die upon making eye contact, such as this?"
Again, Kotori was rendered speechless. "Okay... first of all, I have no idea what you're talking about, but that's... not a thing." She said, once she had found her words again. "Second, no. Yuma just really needs to get his butt out of bed!" She raised her voice as she spoke these last words.
Evidently, this had awoken Yuma, because his hammock momentarily shook as he flinched awake. He pulled the blankets over himself completely, concealing any trace of himself.
"Yuma, this is just getting weird." Kotori sighed. "Get out of bed."
"Kotori?" Yuma's muffled voice sounded. The covers rustled, and a small gap formed in the side as Yuma's eyes peeked out of his hiding spot. "What're you doing here?"
"I came to drop off the school work you've missed, but I'm staying because you're being weird." Kotori stated. "What's wrong, Yuma? Why are you hiding like this?"
"I'm... I'm just sick, that's all." Yuma lied, making several pathetically fake coughing noises. "See? Er... you shouldn't get so close, I might be contagious! See you next week if I get better!"
"Yuma, I know you're not sick." Kotori rolled her eyes. "Astral told me you're being weird, and..."
"You're seriously listening to Astral!?" Yuma said indignantly. "Don't you know that wacky duel ghost is totally crazy?! He's told me time and time again to play Gogogo Golem in Defense mode! Defense mode! Everyone knows that thing's got better Attack points!"
"He still doesn't understand..." Astral shook his head wearily.
"Nice try Yuma. Just come out and talk to me." Kotori gripped the sheets and pulled, but Yuma was holding onto them tightly on his side, intent on keeping himself covered. "Cut it out, Yuma! What are you trying to hide from me?!"
"N-nothing!" Yuma insisted. "I just don't want you getting sick, and..."
"Drop the sick act, nobody's buying it!" Kotori growled. She let go of the sheets, and instead pushed down on the edge of Yuma's hammock, the blanket cocoon falling to the ground with a dull thud, and the hiding boy inside wriggled comically away like a caterpillar escaping from a hungry bird, who gripped his place of hiding in her talons. Kotori once again yanked at the covers, finally unveiling Yuma.
What she saw took both her and Astral by complete shock. Though the figure that lay bashful at his exposure could easily be recognized as Yuma Tsukumo, he was very unlike either Kotori or Astral had ever seen him before.
His twin hair spikes, once bright red, were now a rosy pink, his face, though maintaining most of his boyish charm, was now more rounded and feminine, and his slim body was showing a distinctly girlish, curved shape. He even had breasts, which he very quickly threw his hands over in embarrassment.
"Yuma...?" Kotori breathed, staring in disbelief. "What on earth happened to you?"
"I am uncertain..." Astral mused as he looked over Yuma's new form. "But I believe that Yuma is now a girl."
Yuma dropped to the floor, as though these words dealt, or rather her, a physical blow.
So yeah, hot off the heels of my GX Genderbender series, "Judai is a... Woman?", here's a pitch for another possible genderbender fic, this time around set in YGO Zexal.
Honestly... I'm not really all that proud of what I've written right here, particularly given that the first half or so was basically part of another Zexal fic idea that I'd abandoned. Regardless, I do want to know whatever thoughts you have to offer, and hopefully, this pilot will get the idea of what kind of story I'm trying to get across, if nothing else.
If I'm really going to make this a full series, there are a few things you should know:
-1: At this point, this is just an idea for a series. If anybody reading thinks that this would make a series that you'd like to read, then PLEASE speak up, and give your thoughts and opinions on what you could see happening, etc. Any and all feedback is very much welcome!
-2: When I first wrote "Judai is a... Woman?", I'd intended for it to be more of a Ranma-style comedy series, rather than the adult romance I'd ended up making. I say this because if this will be made into a series, I strongly plan on sticking with it being a humor series with elements of romance, rather than the other way round.
-3: I will undoubtedly rewrite this entire first chapter, since I feel like this chapter was rather half-baked, and I know it can be done better. In this event, I will leave a notice of the new series' name, etc before deleting this pilot.
-4: Skyshipping (Yuma x Kotori) will not be the sole focus of the series; I very much intend to tease shipping with Anna, Cathy, and possibly even Rio as well. Oh, and yes, there will be a fair helping of Shoujo-Ai XD.
As always, please leave your thoughts below. I welcome any and all feedback you can offer ^^