Not sure I really like this one, but I felt like writing and I don't dislike it. Certainly much more sappy than I intended. More like a Judai and Fubuki character analysis from Asuka's perspective.

Read and Review, please.

Chapter VI: Filling the Void

Under sea of stars at the lighthouse.

It was how the pair weathered the long nights together.

Without her elder brother

Without his closest friend.

Silent, yet meaningful.

Icy, yet warm

Which was why she was so astounded when he spoke up, suddenly shattering the serenity they blanketed themselves in.

"Asuka..."

The blonde started.

"Your expression…"

"…?"

"…It's gotten softer lately."

The Obelisk Queen choked a reply back in surprise. She felt her face heat up slightly at the off-handed comment, embarrassed as much by the statement itself as by how random it was.

"R-really?" she wondered, skeptical of his assertion. "I don't think it's changed that much."

The one known as Duel Academia's Kaiser let a small smile grace his ordinarily stern features. "It's a good thing," he stated, matter-of-factly.

The memory happened less than two days earlier, but it may as well have been weeks prior to Asuka, who sat in the infirmary overseeing one of the two unconscious occupants contained within. The last 36 hours were a blur of immense explosions, sweltering heat, and a deadly game followed by a serenity that, were it not for the injuries of those involved, could easily have one believe it never even happened.

But happened it did. The first Duel—the opening salvo in the War for the Sangenma—had started and finished less than a day before. The combatants were the Osiris Red Elemental HERO Duelist Yuki Judai and a man who referred to himself only as Darkness in a maniacally sick battle that only the most sadistic would take full pleasure in.

A normal Duel of Darkness was cruel enough. Asuka always believed that Duels should be used to produce hope and entertainment to those who went without any. The very existence of Duels of Darkness made mockery of the very notion that Duels were something to be enjoyed, causing real damage to the participants. To make matters worse, Judai and Darkness played inside a nearby volcano, pouring pressure onto the Duelists with the unbearable heat, and bet their very souls would be sealed inside a blank Duel Monsters card, should they lose.

But Darkness wanted to make sure the Osiris Red would accept his challenge and give more added stress to his quarry; he also kidnapped Judai's roommates, Shou and Hayato, and dangled them dangerously over the molten magma. It became overwhelming to a point the HERO-user nearly passed out from pain and exhaustion.

The Obelisk Queen couldn't watch anymore. She offered the Dragon-using opponent her Spirit Key and her soul if he would release all her friends from harm. As cruel as the Duelist seemed, she assumed the trade would've been accepted in an instant. Surprising both of them, Judai was the one who intervened.

Although most of what happened was a mere rush of images, she'd never forget the ebullient glint in his eye, nor the conviction contained in his next words:

"Don't take...this passionate Duel away from me...not while I still...have cards left...!"

Asuka couldn't believe it. His friends were in a perilous plight, he could barely stand, and his opponent had a monster with 4500 ATK on his field. And Judai was enjoying the moment. Not the fact he couldn't stand or his friends were in trouble or that the Duel was causing great harm to his body, but the Duel, itself, was incredibly hot-blooded.

True to form, Judai persevered and summoned a new HERO to turn the tide in his favor, barely sneaking passed his opponent. Asuka cheered his victory, until the boy collapsed once again in an attempt to go and free his captured comrades. This time, he fell completely comatose. She rushed to go check on him, when a fiery aura encircled the pair.

The next sight she had was of outside the volcano and her friends, free from their treacherous prison. After some searching, they found the insentient form of the victor. He was bruised. He was burned. He was wounded. But he was alive.

A card lying next to the reminded Asuka of the fate the loser would be subjected to—the loss of their soul. She saw another body several yards away, and feeling both a sense of hate for what he'd done yet sorrow for the result, she approached the body, assuming he was no longer existing.

The first thing she noticed was he was still breathing, which gave her a mild surprise. Next, a sense of familiarity rose within her. The brown hair, the skin, the facial structure, all of it recalled vivid images she hadn't seen in person in so long.

"No…it can't be…"

"A…su…ka…"

Her brother was Darkness. Or rather, Darkness was her brother. The card had bound Darkness' soul to it and didn't seem to completely recognize the Obelisk Queen when she stated her name. However, Fubuki, her brother, clearly knew her name and his voice no longer held the venom it had while Darkness was in control.

Pain and relief swelled within her immediately, to the point it could only be released through tears streaming down her face. She vaguely recognized Ryou's voice behind her asking what was wrong, when she revealed her brother.

The group of students carried the two prone bodies to the hospice as quickly as they could manage. Although weary, Shou, Hayato, and Asuka stayed by their bedsides all day, until poor Shou could barely keep his drooping eyelids open anymore.

"Shou-kun," Asuka patted his shoulder to wake him up. "Shou-kun."

The boy stirred and clenched the sheets of his best friend's bed. "No…Aniki isn't…"

"Shou-kun, you should go back to your dorm and rest. You haven't slept in almost a full day."

"No…Aniki still hasn't awakened, yet…"

Hayato stepped forward. "Shou, it won't do us any good to be fatigued when Judai wakes up. He wouldn't want us being unable to go about our own lives."

Asuka nodded in agreement. "I'll be here for a while longer. I'll message you if he wakes up, OK?" She smiled warmly at the youthful teen.

Shou let his eyes linger on her for a few moments, almost inspecting the sincerity in her statement, before finally acquiescing to the Cyber Sporty Girl-user. Hayato mouthed his gratitude to her, before guiding the stumbling blue-haired youth out of the infirmary.

Ayukawa-sensei also expressed her appreciation, albeit with much less zest. "You have been up for quite a while, yourself. Are you sure you'll be fine?"

The Obelisk Queen shook her head. "I'm used to it." The nurse shrugged, grinning at her knowingly. The girl had just gotten her brother back; of course she would want to spend as much time with him as possible.

"Well, we're not supposed to do this, but if you do happen to feel yourself falling asleep, you can use one of the beds here, for tonight. I need someone to watch over your Brother's condition, anyway," the teacher considered. "If anything happens, though, don't hesitate to contact me."

Asuka bade the teacher good night as she left the clinic, leaving the Obelisk Queen to her book and the breathing and beeping of sleeping and machinery.

"Your expression...it's gotten softer lately."

The girl started at the voice, unaware of where she was for a moment. She noted that she must have dozed off reading her book for a few minutes, when the words echoed in her mind.

She decided to ponder on the words, choosing to ignore the 'what' and focusing on the 'why'. She knew that it was because of her friends that her face had gotten softer. The Kaiser was her older brother while her real brother was away. Junko and Momoe, though a little more into "girly" things than she card to be, were always there for a kind word and a good laugh and conversation when things were rough. Her newer friends and rivals, Manjoume-kun and Misawa-kun, were both quirky but strong and were interesting people as well as comrades-in-arms she could rely upon. Shou and Hayato were both sweet and two of the kindest people she ever met, as well as the most empathetic; she often wondered how strong they would be, if they had more confidence in their own abilities? In that aspect, it was great they ended up being roommates with Judai—

Her thoughts froze. What was Judai to her? A close friend and a rival, sure, but that seemed too easy—too short. Judai showed her so many aspects of Dueling she never would've even considered if she hadn't met him. He was one huge contradiction. He was a confident Duelist who always fought to win yet was never particularly bothered by losing. He hardly worked at his schoolwork, yet was one of the strongest opponents she ever faced. He always believed in the next Draw, no matter how hopeless the situation, expecting to get the very card he needed to survive another turn. Most of all, he believed in enjoying the Duel as much as possible, results be damned.

Her eyes drift to the prone form in front of her and it dawned on her. Although she had all of these new friends and people from the past helping to fill the void left by her brother's disappearance, none of them could fully close the hole. Judai didn't, either, but he was the closest to filling the gap—so much so, he had created his own place for himself without her realizing. She pondered what a life without Judai would consist of; even though it was only six months, it was as if she knew the boy all her life. She couldn't imagine a Tenjoin Asuka sans Yuki Judai, anymore.

The HERO-user was so similar to her brother. Both would help people out, to a fault. Both were overly happy and looking for enjoyment in their life above all else. Despite the problems both imposed upon her—she still got grief from her Obelisk friends at the time Judai gambled on being her fiancé —they both never failed to make her smile or give her encouragement.

Blushing for a moment at the memory of the Tennis Duel coupled with how much her mind spent thinking about the Osiris Red, Asuka decided it was time to take a rest, herself. She did one last check of her brother, before going over to the other of the clinic's occupants.

The Osiris Red's blazer and jeans were neatly folded on a nearby table. The boy's arms were draped over the sheets covering the rest of his body, letting the top of his black undershirt peeking out from underneath the covers. He was the picture of tranquility.

Except for his face, which was clenched, perspiring, and seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"Judai?"

"Shou..."

The boy groaned in his sleep, tightening his grip on the bed covering. She inched closer to the youth, who started tossing and turning. Whatever dream he was having, it seemed extremely vivid and violent.

"Shou...Hayato..."

'...Is he dreaming of the Duel with...?' She glanced back to her brother, unable to finish her thoughts.

"Stop...Don't do it..."

The girl had enough. She grabbed his shoulders and gently started nudging him in an effort to break him from his nightmare.

"Judai. Wake up. It's just a dream."

"No...Don't do it...Don't go..."

"Judai! It's OK! Shou and Hayato are OK! You saved them!"

"Asuka..."

The girl paused.

"Stop...Asuka...Don't do it...Your soul..."

The Obelisk Queen didn't think about it at the time, but what would've been the result of her offering her soul to Darkness in exchange for her friends' safety? Judai probably would've blamed himself for his weakness. Shou and Hayato, as kind as they were, would certainly have blamed themselves. And it wouldn't have stopped the battle, only starting another one for her sake.

Considering it from the other side, she would never have been able to forgive Darkness if he had taken the lives of any of her friends. Judai had created a miracle—a result where not only did everyone return from the Duel of Darkness relatively safely, but she also found her older brother. Did he think of all of that during the Duel? Judai was more perceptive than he appeared, that it made her speculate.

The boy continued trembling. She glanced over to her brother, again, when she recalled something he claimed he used to do for her while she had a nightmare when she was younger. Pulling up a chair close to the bed, she placed a warm hand over his and tenderly began petting his head. His erratic breathing seemed to settle down, but only just. She leaned over and began whispering comforting words into his ear.

"It'll be OK. We're here with you. We're not going anywhere."

Remaining in such a state for several moments, the only sound in the infirmary were the steady beeps of the heart monitor and the soft breathing of peaceful slumber.