Chapter 2: Memories of food and jealousy never mix with entrance exams.
Kuro couldn't believe it, he even felt…Emotionally invested, he danced through the kitchen of his home like some kind of acrobat, being more lively and energetic than usual, his father took notice of his new-found energy that the quiet Kuro suddenly has.
"Did you finish making breakfast yet?" His father asked, Kuro silently pointed at two trays, both of them had a plethora of American-style breakfast food, something that Kuro usually doesn't cook, as a result, some of the pancakes were slightly burnt, and were slightly over-coated with maple syrup.
"Do you want to bring Maria her breakfast? I checked on her, she doesn't want to get up at all…I didn't really think, not being accepted would hurt her in such a powerful manner…" He said as Kuro obediently took the tray, he gave his dad a subtle shrug, not really knowing it would affect her.
Kuro went into her Sister's room, he was immediately greeted by his Sister's trophy rack, it had rows upon rows of various medals and small trophies, all about Duel Monsters, she even had her most recent trophy leaning right next to the Trophy shelves.
Looking at the trophies, all the gold, all the achievements made Kuro felt a sickness inside his stomach, and it wasn't from food.
"Hey Kuro…" the Silent Helheim member heard, he turned his head to see his sister, in her bed, littered with used and scrupled tissues, Kuro simply nodded at her sister as a form of greetings, brushing away various amounts of tissues off her blanket-wrapped lap, then placing the tray of American breakfast food, she smiled despite her teary eyes, taking a forkful of pancakes and chomping it down, the sweet and fluffy cooling her off from her misfortunes.
"I feel so…terrible right now, do you know how it feels to try your hardest on something and still don't get rewarded?" She said in a wallowing tone as she took a sip of some orange juice, as Kuro patiently looked away as a way of being polite.
"I feel that all the time." Kuro said in a quiet and almost unhearable voice, Maria couldn't hear a single word from her tall quiet brother, simply shrugging before blowing her nose with a tissue and then eating another forkful of pancakes.
"You wouldn't understand my plight Kuro, you spend all day in the kitchen being content for what you are, knowing for sure that you'll be accepted to the best culinary schools this world has to offer, while my struggles remain in vain, despite my amazing dueling skills, I don't gain access to the best dueling school in the world!" She continued in vain, clearly over-reacting to being rejected by duel academy.
"Are you sure that you need Duel Academy? You're sort of already good at dueling Maria." Kuro responded to Maria's truthful haminess, she began to wallow once again.
"I was never treated as a true 'Professional' by the unseen eye, with a dueling degree; I can finally show everyone that I am truly…A Professional Duelist!" She said with a heroic and determined tone, raising her finger up at the ceiling, before going back to eating her syrup-seasoned pancakes.
"By the way, I hope you do well at Duel Academy, remember, people are going to know you as my big brother, so I suggest you keep winning, to keep my reputation intact, kapeesh?" She demanded from her older brother, he silently shrugged before simply saying in a monotonous voice.
"Yes sister, I understand." His sister actually smiled as she quickly finished her pancake breakfast, she smacked her stomach in a hearty and fulfilled manner, taking a deep breath in as it was clear that she thoroughly enjoyed her meal.
"Thanks for breakfast Kuro, also, when are you leaving for Duel Academy?" Maria asked her brother.
"Tormorrow, I will need to do an entrance exam to determine my dorm." Kuro answered as he got the tray off of Maria, the tray was heavily messy, but Kuro didn't mind in the slightest.
"Sorry for being so messy, your breakfast is so good I had to eat like a piggy!" She said with a giggle, Kuro retorted with a response with a small tinge of venom in his voice.
"Don't worry; I'm used to cleaning up your messes." He hissed, his voice quiet enough so that his sister wouldn't hear, she luckily didn't, as she went back to her sorrowful state, not as mellow as she was before getting her breakfast from her brother, but enough to annoy Kuro to leave her room.
Kuro grumbled under his breath as he exited his room, he hid his rather disdain-ridden frown from his father by going back to the kitchen to cook himself something to eat, the potential taste of his own cooking somewhat calming him down.
He planned to cook something meaty and hearty, possibly some chicken legs with rice, sounded delicious and he could make enough to feed his somber sister and supporting father, he nodded to himself as he began to cook the meal he desired, his father came into the kitchen, wanting to converse with his quiet son.
"is Maria doing well?" He asked as stared at his silent son, Kuro simply shrugged in a nonchalant manner, not really having a clear answer for his father.
"She still seemed distressed about not being in the academy." Kuro answered.
"Well, son, I'm proud that you're going to go, although I never did know that you signed up for Duel Academy." His father admitted in a slightly guilty tone, Kuro once again shrugged at his father's lack of knowledge.
"I'm chock full of surprises dad." Kuro said in a emotionless tone, his dad laughed at his son's remark before giving a pat on the back, the Silent Helheim Family Member was dead silent as his father did this.
"Yes you are son, yes you are, your mother would be proud like I am right now." He said with an honest smile, this got Kuro's attention. The old memories of the past irked and frustrated him greatly; Maria's trophy shelf and his father's mother comment sparked some memories within the silent and tall Helmheim family member, He rubbed right temples with his free hand in a forceful notion, groaning in annoyance as he struggled to bottle up his frustration.
He could remember the old memories, as if he was having a flashback, he wasn't a lucid dreamer, but it almost felt like he was reliving old events from days old past, back when he was still living in Japan, his home, instead of Domino City.
"Is this how I make Miso soup Mama?" Kuro happily asked as he presented her mother with a small bowl of miso soup, it was a yellowish broth with small bits and slices of green onion and parsley within the bowl of miso, the beautiful, raven-haired mother smiled as she took a whole mouthful of the miso, she smiled in delight as the warm and delicious broth went down her gullet.
The two Helheim Family Members were at their home in Japan, it was small and compact, but clean and rather high in quality, the room that the two occupants were in was a kitchen and living room, one side having a plethora of cooking ware and applications, while the other had several chairs, a coffee table along with a small but modern television.
"Yes it is Kuro, well done." Kuro's mother said with a smile, her son was absolutely ecstatic as he hugged her mother; she winced slightly in comedic pain as Kuro's strong hug practically squeezed her like as if she was a damp cloth, despite being only twelve year olds, Kuro was nearly as tall as her mother, and his physical strength was quite impressive for his age.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" He said with a joyous tone before breaking off the hug from his mother, while Kuro's mother smiled in a sweetened way, deep down she was relieved that her son stopped crushing her.
"At this rate, you'll be just as good as Mama." Kuro's mother mused as she giggled lightly, her laugh being like a heavenly harp, dainty and light.
"Oh! Since I cooked the appetizer, should I cook the entrée?" Kuro asked in an excited way, wanting to cook more for her mother.
"If you believe you have the skill, which I'm sure you do, you can!" Her mother encouraged as she clapped her hands together in a supportive tone.
"Okay, leave to me Mama!" Kuro said, his tone being hale and hearty as he prepared to cook his mother a delicious meal, just then, the rest of Kuro's family came in from the front door.
"Hi Mom and Kuro! I'm home!" Maria said at the top of her lungs as she entered into the small abode, bearing a medallion around her neck and a small silver trophy in her hands, she had the biggest smile on her young face.
"I'm here as well heheh!" Maria's father said as he entered into the home as well, holding two large plastic bags with several white containers within it, Kuro frowned, knowing exactly what his father was holding in his hands.
"Oh! Hello Sweetie, how was your day?" Kuro's Mother asked in a genuine curious tone to Maria as the two came into an heart-felt embrace.
"It was absolutely amazing! Dad drove me to a local Duel Monster Tournament and I even won second place! There was like fifty people participating!" Maria said in a loud but passionate tone, before quickly trailing off about her victory in the local Duel Monsters Tournament, Kuro growled under his breath as he saw his dad open up the boxes, revealing different Chinese-styled dishes.
"I brought dinner! You can turn off the stove Kuro." His dad said with an innocent smile, Kuro reluctantly did so, his thoughts and aspirations of cooking a delicious meal for his mother went out like the stove light.
The rest of the night was spent with both of his parents talking and praising Maria's achievements, she boasted her dueling abilities constantly to the point that she was calling herself 'The Dark Star of Duel Monsters' and how she was going to win all of the tournaments in the world.
All in the while Kuro was completely silent, only opening his mouth to eat the food that his dad brought, it was still early in the weekend night, but Kuro just wanted the day to be done with, especially since his sister was planning to invite some friends and family over, just so she can boast about her accomplishment.
The now silent Helheim child sulked to bed, quickly covering himself in his bed sheets and blankets, not wanting to deal with his sister's boastings, a full minute passed before several family members came into Kuro's home, laughing and partying as if there's no tomorrow, despite the noise in the main room, Kuro could still hear his sister's laugh and boasts.
He heard his bedroom door open, for a split second it blistered with noise, until it was closed, muffling the sounds to a more tolerable level.
"Hey…Kuro…Good night…Remember, no matter what faces you head-on, never run away, always face it with spirit and heart." He knew for a fact that it was his mother that entered in the room, no one in his family nor extended family could have such a kind and gentle voice, his mother kissed Kuro on the cheek before going back to the living room to talk with friends and family.
Kuro, was silent, but he nevertheless smiled in a encouraged way, his mother's words resonating within his mind like clockwork.
When the morning came by, Kuro woke up to see a small beautifully-wrapped gift by his nightstand
The Silent Helheim Member woke up with a headache, his head banging like a drum, he sighed in pain as he realized that he was in his dad's car, the passenger seat in particular, a rarity for when it comes to driving with his dad, he always gets the backseat and his younger sister would always get the passenger seat.
Kuro groggily rubbed his eyes, wanting to make his vision clear, he must've passed out or went to sleep, he knew his Duel Academy Entrance exam was today, and he checked his pocket in a quick manner, sighing in relief when his deck was in his jeans pocket.
"Look who's awake, you ready to duel son?" His dad asked as he was busy driving, Kuro silently nodded in response.
"Check the back seat, your sister is letting you borrow her duel disk, think of it, as a way of her showing that she's happy that you got in." His father said with a smile, Kuro mentally moaned as he checked the backseat, staring at the duel disk that was resting on one of the backseats.
It was black and edgy, like some sort of heavily sharpened piece of obsidian, it wasn't like normal duel disks where the dueling grid was two pieces separately, but rather it was a single piece, the center of the duel disk had a red oval stone, the graveyard slot looked like some kind of maw of a monster, to make it seem like the cards are being devoured and the deck slot looked like a clawed hand.
Kuro absolutely hated the Duel Disk, it was just another way for Maria to boast about how cool she looked, if Kuro would wield the duel disk, people will instantly recognize him as the brother to the 'Dark Star of Duel Monsters' and give him a set of standards that he doubts that he can reach.
Despite his distaste for it, he must use it, he doesn't have his own duel disk, never bothered to buy one and whenever he did dueled, it's with other people who didn't had duel disks too.
His father finally stopped driving parking right in front of the the Duel Academy entrance exam building, Kuro sighed as he rubbed his temples once again to ease his headache, his father looked Kuro straight in the eyes before hugging his son, Kuro didn't responded to the hug, still rubbing his temples.
"I'm proud of you Son, don't let this opportunity go to waste." His father said with a smile, Kuro could hear his dad sniffling lightly, as if he was crying.
"No need to cry dad, I'll be fine." Kuro reassured to his dad as Kuro smiled in a false and disingenuous way, just wanting to cheer up his dad.
"I know you'll be, you have Helheim Blood in you, now go, go before I start to cry lakes worth of tears." His dad said as he wiped some tears from his eyes, chuckling lightly at his own expanse.
Kuro left his dad's car, slowly walking down to the building door and opening it, the first thing he was greeted in the inside of the building was a massive banner with the words 'Kaiba Dome' imprinted on it, the building was actually a famous one made into a test duel facility, Kuro had no idea that this battledome was even in Domino City.
Kuro arrived at a desk with a proctor at one side and with several other upcoming students surrounding the other sides, Kuro sighed as he slowly made way to the man, managing the desk, holding up his acceptance letter and thus not needing to sign up.
Thankfully, due to Kuro's height and size, he was able to push away people with relative ease; the upcoming students were rather quiet as they saw the 6'6 crow-haired teenager, not wanting to interject against someone a tall figure like Kuro.
"Greeting Young man, looks like you already got everything in order, just head inside to spectate and when the intercom calls you, go head to the arena okay?" The Proctor said as he took Kuro's acceptance letter, without a word, Kuro nodded as he headed down to the spectator area of the dome.
Kuro mentally sighed as when he arrived at the Spectator area of the arena, he saw plenty of different students, some of them were already finished their exams and thus was wearing the Duel Academy uniforms, ruby red jackets, golden yellow jackets and sapphire blue blazer jackets, he also noticed other people who wore normal clothing like himself, most likely people who were done and finished with the tests.
'Great…' Kuro Mentally sighed 'crowds, I have to duel, in a middle of a big crowd, I hope they won't pay attention to me…Then again, I'm tall, so I'm going to stick out either way…' Kuro thought to himself as he finally found a decent seat where there were no people around him, with another sigh and a slow motion, Kuro sat down, he smiled lightly, feeling relaxed after waking up with a headache, not long after, the intercom rang.
"Kuro Helheim! Please report to the Dueling Field at once, your exam is ready and waiting!" Kuro heard, Kuro sighed to himself, reluctantly getting off of his bottom as he proceeded to go do his Entrance exam.