Chapter Text
After all that talk, Yuto was gone when Yuya woke up. It was almost enough to make him laugh. Just when it really mattered…
Still, Yuya didn’t blame him. Both of them had to know what was going to happen. If Yuya could, he’d’ve run away too.
Coward.
As the thought rang loud, his stomach churned, shame melting into the lining. Coward, coward, coward -back in Standard, he’d done everything he could to shake off that label and, after taking on Strong Ishijima, he might have finally pulled it off.
Now, it seemed like it was actually true. Huh, guess him being brave was just another lie to top off the rest.
I’m such a coward.
Too weak to duel the way his dad had, too weak to blaze a trail like he did, too weak to dream like a human would, too weak, too weak, too weak!
When he realised that, his stomach only continued to sink, as if to say “stop being a drama queen!” Pretty rich, coming from them. Why doesn’t his stomach stop being a drama queen first?
Yuya knew the answer, of course. He’d learned it last night when, after getting one too many goosebumps, Yuto had insisted that Yuya take a bath -oh, but not before vanishing into the darkness, never to be seen again! Seeing how Yuya’d be duelling tomorrow, he decided to humour him. He might be weak, might be a coward, and might be a monster, but he was a professional weak and cowardly monster and professionals didn’t leave the house sweaty! So he grabbed some spare clothes, turned on the fans, turned on the tap and waited.
As much as he hated to admit it, Yuto was right. Watching the bath fill up was relaxing and the heavy steam felt nice on his throat. Best of all, the water was the perfect temperature.
But that water was also…wrong. His eyes kept catching onto its surface, like how the legs of a bug would get caught in wool.
It was there, stuck in his own woolly hell, that Yuya realised three things.
First, there were a lot of places that he could run off to.
Second, the water made his stomach flip.
Third, if his stomach didn’t flip so much, he’d probably rather have drowned himself than live to play another duel.
And now, thinking back on that awful bath from the morning after, Yuya felt more sure than ever that he was happy to let his body stay a little bit of a drama queen. Yuto was still here, after all.
I have to go.
***
A thousand eyes from a thousand places burned into Yuya’s skin.
“GET HER!”
“NO MERCY!”
“KILL HER!”
“SHOW US A EVEN MORE A’ THAT BLOOD!”
His mouth took on a metal taste. Ah, had he bitten his tongue?
GET HER! KILL HER! THAT’S WHAT WE CAME FOR!”
“YUYA! YUYA! YUYA! YUYA!”
His mouth twisted upwards into something only barely a smile. It was too shaky, weak, and lifeless for that. Then again, how could you be expected to smile when you were murdering yourself like this? Every dream, every hope, every kind of himself he’d wanted to be -he’d dug them up and thrown them away to make room for what the audience wanted.
Because only then would they cheer for him with unfiltered adoration.
“And on the other side-” the announcer continued, “Ruka Atlaaaaaas!”
It was predictable, really. Like a pack of fish that went insane over just the hint of blood in the water-
“-You look disturbed.”
The sudden statement cut through his thoughts and, startled, Yuya twisted his neck so fast he could almost feel it snapping in half.
...God.
She looked even smaller than Sora.
“I-I’m fine.”
Ruka’s eyes drilled into him with the kind of ice reserved for ants. She wasn’t about to roast him alive, but she wasn’t going to save him, either. He wasn’t worth saving.
Turn 1 - Ruka Atlas - 4000 LP
“My turn, draw,” she paused only briefly to read her cards. “I activate Aroma Gardening and normal summon Aromage Jasmine. Aroma Gardening triggers, raising my LP by 1000 and further triggering Jasmine’s effect. I draw one.”
Ruka - 4000 -> 5000LP
“Then, I can normal summon Aromage Bergamot by using Jasmine’s continuous effect, play Aroma Garden, and activate its ignition effect.”
Ruka - 5000 -> 5500LP
“That triggers Bergamot.”
Aromage Bergamot - 2400 -> 3400 -> 3900 attack.
“Now, I set one card and end my turn.”
Turn 2 - Yuya Sakaki - 4000LP
In the back of his mind, something twitched-
(It raked over the flowers, vines, and trees which had sprung up all across Ruka’s field. ‘Wow, what a beautiful field spell’! It sighed.)
-But compared to the deafening thrum of his heartbeat and the storm of voices rocking his skull, that voice was too small to ever be heard.
“M-my turn-” Wait, had he really just stuttered? How humiliating! Clean up your act or disappear! “-Draw!”
Fireflux, Sky Iris, Camelump, Secondonkey, Pinch Helper, and Sellshell Crab.
The line seemed clear enough. “I scale Performapal Sellshell Crab and Performapal Fireflux, then I pendulum summon Performapal Camelump and Performapal Secondonkey. Secondonkey triggers on summon, letting me-”
(Search Trumpanda or Skeeter Skimmer.)
No, add Skullcrobat Joker and normal for Dragonpit.
(We can’t even summon Dragonpit Magician! Are you trying to bore the crowd to death!?)
What kind of idiot would ever summon Dragonpit? We need them to destroy that backrow. That way, when we xyz summon Dark Rebellion and take down Ruka’s Bergamot, our Skullcrobat Joker can end this quickly.
(That’s way too aggressive!)
Please, those animals will eat it up.
All at once, the sight of his own blood-covered hands flooded Yuya’s memories. Right, he’d been a monster yesterday and the stands had cheered for every second. At this point, why bother trying anything else?
(Don’t you dare!)
Rip her to shreds.
Slowly but surely, everything faded to hot red static.
(Just grab a wall!)
We don’t have a choice.
His hands moved.
Win and be loved.
And-
“-search Performapal Skeeter Skimmer and normal it in attack position!”
On cue, Skeeter Skimmer took their place between the other two performapals. They looked pretty delicate, but he knew from experience that they could stop a good few attacks.
For a moment, silence filled his head. Relief washed over him-
(...Good enough.)
-but when it clashed against the lurch in his gut, that relief felt like a half-hearted trick.
What are you doing!? If that set card is Dried Winds, we’re going to lose too much ground!
(Better than losing ground to you!)
Still so loud.
“Then, I activate Sky Iris, set one card, and end my turn!”
Turn 3 - Ruka Atlas - 5500LP
The moment Yuya finished his turn, the atmosphere changed. Not only did the air turn thick enough that, if you just bit down hard enough, you could’ve left teeth marks behind in the folds, but it took on the most awful flavour. Sharp and sour, like blood mixed with lemon juice -it accentuated the rage of the stands.
“What are you waitin’ around for?!”
“Summon your black dragons already!”
“Just finish her already!”
“Make her bleed!”
“Make her cry!”
“MAKE HER BREAK!”
The more they cheered, the more he heard, and the more his fear and disgust swirled together. Soon, they’d mixed into a ravenous acid. His bones were melting.
“Awful, aren’t they? It makes me wonder why you’re defending them.”
Once more, Yuya startled at Ruka’s tone. She hadn’t said anything during his turn, so why would his heckling get her attention?
It was only on a closer look that he realised Ruka was also seething with hate.
“This world would be better off without them, don’t you think?” she said simply. “Now, it’s my turn. I draw, flip Dried Winds, and normal summon Aromage Cananga. Cananga triggers Gardening, which triggers Bergamot, Dried Winds, and Cananga. My targets will be Fireflux and Skeeter Skimmer.”
One chain. One single chain. That was all that Ruka needed to break his ‘sturdy wall’ in half, bounce away his battle protection, lower his two monster’s defenses, and make her piercer even more offensively big. Yuya, on the other hand, was so low on interactions that all he could do was watch in shock.
“Aroma Garden activates.”
Oh come on! He was already finished!
Aromage Bergamot - 2400->3400->3900 attack.
Aromage Cananga - 1400 -> 1900 attack.
Ruka Atlas - 5500 -> 6500 -> 7000LP.
“First you, then the rest!” she snarled. “Battle! Cananga, destroy his Camelump! Bergamot, his Secondonkey!”
Nodding, Cananga and Bergamot flew into action and, with one smooth swing of their lantern staves, summoned a wave of molten rock that mercilessly swallowed his field. It all happened so quickly, his monsters couldn’t even cry out.
As for Yuya, Bergamot’s piercing damage meant that he wasn’t about to be spared, either. Really, he was lucky they even gave him the time to squeeze his eyes shut in the face of their flames. If he hadn’t, the superheated drops of magma might have left him shattered and blind. Instead, those tiny bullets only seared the fabric of his riding suit. They only dug into his exposed skin before burning each hole shut from the inside, only melted the handles of his duel runner so its painted coat flaked off in his hands, only made him feel like he was really, truly going to die.
Deep down, though, he knew he wouldn’t. He was stronger than that-
Yuya Sakaki - 4000 -> 3400 -> 1000LP
-and, even now, he still had ways to defend himself. “When a Performapal is destroyed by battle,” he started, flinching back from the tiny embers trying to sneak inside of his mouth. “I can special summon Sellshell Crab!”
Too little too late, Sellshell Crab materialised between him and Ruka’s aromages. By now, their ferocious attacks had already finished, still, he’d be lying to say that Sellshell’s shadow wasn’t at least a little comforting.
“Fine,” Ruka growled back. “Go ahead and take your turn. Make it easy for me.”
Turn 4 - Yuya Sakaki - 1000 LP
Yuya stared. His duel disk beeped impatiently, but drawing was the least of his worries. Every inch of his body hurt, his heart was racing, and the memory of Ruka’s words was crowding the insides of his skull.
“First you, then the rest.”
It wasn’t like her words were wrong. This was a tournament, after all, so like it or not, it was ‘first you, then the rest’.
But still, there was something more to Ruka’s feelings. Something Yuya understood. How could he not? He hated those worthless animals, too.
Locking eyes with Ruka was like locking eyes with himself in the mirror. The more he stared, the more he wanted to break it to pieces.
Don’t tell Yuto, but Yuya had a habit of breaking mirrors. If it wasn’t because he hated having to look at his own disgusting face, it was because he needed his fingers to sting, or because there was just so much heat inside him that he needed some way to bleed it out. Yesterday, he’d almost smashed the bathroom mirror inside their fancy little suite. If Yuto hadn’t stopped him…
Now, for the first time, Yuya wanted to break a mirror just because he pitied his reflection. Yuya might have been a monster, but Ruka was just a kid. She shouldn’t have looked as angry and hateful as Yuya always felt inside. There were better ways for her to live, there had to be.
“H-hey,” he started quietly, speeding up to Ruka’s side. For a moment, he was worried that she’d drive ahead but, for what it was worth, she didn’t. “Are you, um, with Mackfield?”
He wanted so badly to just be seeing things, but he knew before she even spoke that her answer wasn’t the one he was after.
“Yes.”
“...Can I ask why?”
“Look around,” she scoffed. “This world is a bad dream.”
As if to hammer home her feelings, the air began to shake with noise-
“What’s with all the whispering!?”
-The culprit being, as always, the audience.
“Someone call a judge, the fucker is stalling!”
“Quit playing around!”
“Put some blood on the track already!”
A high, metallic ring began stabbing into his brain matter. His shoulders curled.
They’re right. We have to focus on the duel.
(Yusho would never stall like this! Did you forget you were onstage!?)
But he couldn’t, because where before Ruka had looked like him, now she looked like Sora, too. Sora, who hated being emotional, who hated being looked down upon, who was willing to destroy the world if it meant that he could pay back his father.
No matter how much the ringing hurt, Yuya refused to repeat that night in the park! He’d rather take that lava field where, despite everything, he and Sora had become friends again.
What’d I do back then, again?
Oh right, that whole weird interview thing.
“In that case,” Yuya started, “what do you get out of-” the united world “-waking up? I mean, if this is a dream, it’s a pretty cool one, right?”
Plenty of water, plenty of food, plenty of cards, and even one of those messed-up big brothers who would kill to make their sister happy. What about this wasn’t enough?
Ruka’s grip on her handlebars tightened. “It doesn’t have Rua.”
Rua? He frowned. Who’s-
“-Oh, that poor thing!”
“She must still be broken-up about that horrible tsunami.”
“Ugh, get over it!”
“Excuse me!?”
“I lost family too, y’know! And you don’t see me crying! She needs to grow up like the rest of us!”
“I know right? 13 is too old to be stuck in Fairyland!”
“What’s your problem!?”
“Everyone grieves differently!”
“She’s just a little girl, you know! Give her time!”
…Yuya could guess who Rua was. That made the next question, ‘didn’t the stands have any shame!?’
Back in Standard, Yuya had spent years pretending to be ‘normal’. He’d been sure that, if anyone ever learned about the disgusting and violent parts of him, they’d treat him like the monster he was. Words couldn’t cover how grateful he was that, when the truth finally did come out, his friends accepted all of him.
Ruka, though? Ruka had been living in Yuya’s worst nightmare since long before they’d come to Synchro. No wonder she wanted to wake up so badly.
What should I do?
Mind turning in dizzying circles, Yuya took his draw for the turn.
Monkeyboard...
His stomach sank. Normally, he’d be happy to draw such an amazing searcher but, with his already being swamped with choice, having to also choose which monster to search felt unbelievably overwhelming.
Maybe that was why, in the end, he decided to just ignore the fact that he had a choice to make at all.
“I re-scale Fireflux-” he sighed “-and end my tu-”
“-DON’T YOU DARE PITY ME!” Suddenly, Ruka cut him off with a shriek like the world itself was tearing open. “I send Aromaseraphy Angelica to the graveyard, targeting Jasmine!”
Is she… serious?
“This raises my LP by 100-”
Ruka Atlas - 7000 -> 7100LP.
“-And Dried Winds destroys your Sellshell Crab!”
Instantly, a violent cyclone of burning petals enveloped the air around Sellshell Crab. One by one, their eggs burst, filling the roaring wind with a small collection of wet-sounding pops and littering the track with their sizzling insides and boiled crayfish. They wailed as their armour plating flaked off and turned to ash but, even in the face of his monster’s destruction, all Yuya could think about was just how bad this play really was. Ruka hadn't just only gained a measly 100LP, she’d also used her one and only free Dried Winds on Sellshell Crab.
“You weren’t supposed to pity me-” Ruka panted, breaths coming hard and fast until, to Yuya’s shock, she broke into sobs. “-You were meant to believe me! Y-you came from a faraway place too, right? S-so why don’t you believe me?!”
Yuya’s heart hammered. Every cry that ripped out of Ruka felt like it was prying his ribcage apart.
I have to help her!
(Nope! What you have to do is just shut. Up. And smile already!)
B-but I was pitying her! I need to pay her back!
Duelling is for pleasing the audience, not for comforting little girls.
On cue, yet another wave of memories crashed down to smother his tiny resistance. Thoughts of Dad, of Dad’s jokes, and of how much the crowd had adored him yesterday just because he was hurting someone. The sensation of having his biggest fear be proven beyond any kind of doubt.
Win and be loved.
His hesitation withered away-
-Just in time for his duel disk to burn!?
Wha- eyes bulging out of their sockets, Yuya snapped to look at his extra deck. To his shock, it was glowing and, lost, he quickly opened it up.
Never in a million years could he have guessed the card he’d see.
…Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!?
At that moment, two thoughts rang out at once.
First, I can’t even summon them! It was the fact that I couldn’t summon them that made them better than Mirror Force! And second, they must be trying to tell me something.
Gongenzaka wasn’t stupid. He had to know that, without an earth tuner, Yuya’s chance of summoning Susanowo was millions less than three snowballs’ in hell against a Lava Golem. Still, it was Susanowo he’d given to Yuya, so it had to be hiding some kind of secret.
Sadly, thanks to him stressing so much, Yuya had been too much of a wreck to even begin to figure it out. Now, though, every fiber of his being was focused on Susanowo.
Soon, he’d flown right back to that shining moment when Gongenzaka had first synchro summoned Susanowo. Yuya had been starstruck, not just because the monster was amazingly cool, super statted, and packing a pretty thoughtful effect, but because, to even summon his brand new ace, Gongenzaka had needed to buck tradition, reject his father’s expectations, and refuse the deck his ancestors had spent generations proving.
Because of Yuya.
“First, there is no such thing as a perfect deck.”
“Second, leaving one’s comfort zone is how one becomes strong.”
“Finally, without courage, you cannot move forward. Maintain your beliefs even if it means risking your life!”
“That is what I learned by watching your duels. This time, I hope to teach you something just as valuable.”
The more those words engraved themselves deeper into Yuya’s heart, the more ashamed he felt for having taken this long to let them sink in.
(Are you kidding!? Yusho is perfect!)
The crowd wants violence! We have to play it safe!
Heh, better late than never.
It was time to find out what he truly believed in!