Chapter Text
At the gates of a Japanese-styled castle, there was a tall young man in a white jacket, ready to make his move. By his side, there were two mechanical looking samurais.
“It’s time for Superheavy Samurai Blue Brawler and Swordsman to go their own way. I now Tribute Summon the strongest warrior of my deck. Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!”.
As he summoned his monster, the person pointed up.
“Now, Yuya! Come down and face me like a man!”.
A laugh could be heard from above. A figure was standing at the top of the gates but as soon as he was called, he jumped down right before his opponent.
“Ladies, gentlemen…and Gongenzaka! It’s time for the show to start! I activate the Spell Hippo Carnival from my hand!”.
Three colorful hippos dressed in provocative outfits appeared on the field. Gongenzaka wasn’t impressed.
“Is that all you can do Yuya? I’m disappointed!”.
“Patience dear friend. I’m sure you’re aware of why I have summoned these tokens on the field”.
Up above, in a cabin, there was a girl overseeing the duel. She suddenly got angry when she saw what Yuya was doing.
“Geez, Yuya. Can’t you take things more seriously?”.
Someone then put a hand on her shoulder.
“Calm down, Yuzu. You know Yuya’s style. He likes to mess around”.
Yuzu sighed exasperated.
“I know Yuto. But I just wish he’d be more serious during his duels. And besides, there’s something in that card I just don’t like”.
Yuto gave a small amused smile and returned to watch the duel. Suddenly, he thought he saw a distortion in the program.
“Hmm?”.
Back to the duel, Yuya raised one of his cards up.
“And with this card here, I’m going to summon the star of the show! After all, the fun has ju-”.
All of a sudden, the field started glitching and the simulation shut down.
Yuzu’s father Shuzo suddenly entered the room.
“Hey, what happened?”.
Yuzu raised her hands.
“I didn’t do anything”.
Yuto sighed.
“The simulation shut down. Hey, Yuya. The duel is cancelled”.
Yuya put up a disappointed face.
“Whaaa? But I was just getting started”.
Yuya was in now in the overseeing room with Yuzu waiting, as his brother and friend worked on the ARC System.
“Well? Something that can be done?”.
Yugo shook his head dejected.
“No can do. This thing is fried. We’ll have to change system altogether”.
Rin scratched her head as she too stopped working.
“Geez, this thing is old like the stone age. I’m surprised it lasted this long”.
At that information, Shuzo starting crying rivers of tears.
“My hot-blooded coaching is over! Without the ARC System our school is done for!”.
That made the four sweat-drop at him. Rin put her hands on her hips.
“Man up, dad! You can’t be crying right now. We’ll do something about this”.
Yuzu put a hand on her head.
“You say that but it’s not like we can afford a new system”.
The four teens stayed silent before they all sighed dejected. They moved to the main hall where the rest of their respective siblings were waiting. Those being Yuya and Yugo’s brothers Yuto and Yuri, and Yuzu and Rin’s sisters Ruri and Serena.
“Were you able to fix it?” asked Ruri.
They all shook their head in disappointment causing Ruri to sigh. Yuri instead huffed out a sarcastic laugh.
“Well, we’re screwed”.
“You can at least pretend you’re worried” jabbed Serena. Yuto agreed with her.
“She’s right. The ARC System is the very core of Action Duels. And this school specializes in it”.
Shuzo once again acted dramatically.
“Exactly! Without the system my hot-blooded coaching can’t be taught! And a school that can’t teach is useless! I knew I should have opened a cooking school!”.
‘It’s not like it was doing well in the first place…’ was the collective and depressive thought of the eight teens present in the room.
Yuya’s eyes turned to a poster on the wall which represented his father.
“Are you thinking about your father again?”.
Gongenzaka arrived next to him. Yuya smiled at him.
“Hmm? I didn’t know you were still here. Nah, I’m fine. Just reminiscing”.
By his gaze, Gongenzaka knew that was most likely a lie.
“Your style of dueling is too carefree Yuya. That boy who was watching didn’t laugh one second of the duel”.
“Oh, come on. I’m sure I managed to steal a laugh from him”.
His friend sighed.
“Yuya, there’s a pretty big difference between laughing with you and laughing at you. Maybe you can be serious when you want but how can you expect people to enjoy your duels if you goof around most of the time. Your father… He was able to amaze the public with his duels. The laughs weren’t mocking but of genuine enjoyment. I’m sure you more than anyone know that”.
Yuya looked down. His desire to become like his father… It was still present in his heart but… At this point…
“Anyway, without the ARC System, there’s not much we can do”.
“Sorry for the intrusion but I couldn’t help but hear you have a problem”.
Suddenly, all eyes blinked as a tall man in a bright suit seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Everyone jumped in surprise.
“W-Who the heck are you?!” asked Yugo.
The man did a twirl and introduced himself.
“My name is Nico Smiley. I’m the manager of the current Action Duel Champion Strong ‘The Sledgehammer’ Ishijima”.
Everyone tensed up even more. Strong Ishijima has always been a sore spot for most of the people there.
Especially for Yuya.
Yuzu glanced at him worried before looking at Nico.
“And the reason you’re here is because…?”.
Nico sat down on a chair.
“As I’m sure most of you are aware, Strong’s fan appreciation day is a week from now and he decided to host an exhibition duel between him and another person. And so I thought, what better opponent than Yuya Sakaki, one of the sons of Yusho Sakaki himself?”.
The tension grew by the second. Yuya’s brothers looked at him in worry.
Three years ago, their father Yusho was supposed to face Strong in a duel. Yuya in particular was itching to see his dad in action. But Yusho never arrived. No matter how much they’d wait, their father didn’t show up.
Strong declared him a coward and the public agreed with him. Furious, Yuya gripped the railings and screamed that his father would come before challenging Strong himself. It took both his mother and Yuto’s efforts to bring him away. The poor guy cried for days. Out of everyone, Yuya was the closest to his father.
And now he could be facing the same person that slandered his dad’s name.
“You can see it as revenge for that fiasco of three years ago. Imagine. The son of Yusho Sakaki challenged the champion to clear his father’s good name. People will be all over it”.
Yugo outright glared at him.
“Why you-”.
Before he could slug the manager, both Rin and Yuri held him back and shook their head.
“Absolutely not!”.
Their eyes turned to Shuzo, who wore a serious expression. Nico was confused but not startled.
“And why not? It can be Yuya’s big occasion to fight Strong. Yusho’s fans will love it. And it can also be good publicity for your school”.
“Yuya and his brothers have suffered enough because of Yusho’s disappearance. I won’t allow you to make him an even bigger fool of himself and humiliate him”.
Nico waved his hands.
“I assure you that’s not our intention at all. Of course, should Yuya participate, Leo Corp. would be willing to sell you the newest ARC System to thank you for your cooperation. Absolutely for free with no strings attached”.
“M-My answer is still no”.
Truth to be told, Shuzo was about to accept right there but the prospect of incurring into his daughters’ wrath, who he was sure were sending death glares at him, prevented him from speaking out of line.
Gongenzaka stepped in.
“Regardless, the final decision is up to Yuya. Whether he wishes to fight or not, it’s his decision and his alone”.
“Sorry to say this but our little Houdini has already left”.
Everyone blinked at Yuri’s statement and looked at where Yuya was, finding nothing and no one there. Serena pouted.
“He did it again! How the heck is he able to vanish without a trace all the time?”.
Yuzu’s worries didn’t ease up. But she had an idea of where he was.
Sitting on a bridge railing and staring at the sky was Yuya.
“What should I do? Suddenly, a chance to battle Strong Ishijima has appeared and yet I…”.
Yuya removed his pendulum and stared at it.
“What should I do dad?”.
“I knew I’d find you here”.
Yuya turned his eyes to the left and saw Yuzu approaching him smiling.
“Hey, Yuzu. Let me guess. Yuri was once again the only one who noticed my escape”.
Yuzu chuckled.
“Yeah. I swear it’s like he watches over everything”.
“Yuri is like that. You know him”.
Yuya returned staring at the sky. Yuzu sat beside him.
“Hey, Yuya. Will you fight Ishijima?”.
He stayed silent before raising his pendulum again.
“My father once told me that life is like a pendulum. If it swings one way, then it will eventually swing to the other. That life will eventually go my way”.
Yuzu stared at him in acknowledgement.
“You know… I think the one thing we must never lose is our spirit”.
Yuya turned to her.
“Our siblings are amazing. When we first started dueling seriously, they were clearly above us. Yuto and Ruri could Xyz Summon… Yugo and Rin could Synchro Summon… And Yuri and Serena could Fusion Summon. But that doesn’t mean we’re lower than them”.
“I know. When I was younger I couldn’t help but compare myself to them. Yuto is mature, Yuri is smart and Yugo is confident. What am I then? I couldn’t answer myself. But I also learnt that comparing myself to my brothers is useless”.
Yuya looked up at the sun.
“I want to be my own person. Not someone molded by my wish to be like my brothers. I want to be…someone else entirely”.
Yuzu smiled at him.
“So do I. I want to be like my sisters. But at the same time I want to be different from them”.
After some moments of silence, Yuzu put her head on Yuya’s shoulder, much to his amusement (and delight).
He knew what he had to do.