Last edited: July 2019.

-V-

-V- The Calm Before the Storm -V-

-V-

Futoshi won his duel.

Next up was Ayu, who was to face some student from the LDS.

Said student… was a bit creepy; Yuya had to admit that much, considering the vacant look and how he was wearing a cap and on top of that a hood, and moved like he didn't want to be seen. He was also pulling around a worn-out teddy bear. The boy didn't seem nervous, per se, more like… scared? But why would he be scared of Ayu of all people? Could Yuya be imagining things?

Well, in any case, the duel started, and Ayu was doing pretty good. No, very good, in Yuya's and everyone's opinion. Well, almost everyone's opinion.

Sora yawned, stuffing a final piece of candy into his mouth before turning on his heel.

"I'm off to check out the competition," he said, offering up a slight wave. "See you guys later!"

Yuya sneaked a glance at Judai, but Judai spared just brief glance at Sora's retreating back before looking in the direction of Ayu's opponent again. Yuya was not sure what Judai saw, but whatever it was, it had him frowning.

But then, suddenly, he looked up again and then in the direction Sora had just disappeared.

"You know what?" he said. "I'm gonna go and track down Sora. Yuzu's Duel starts after this, right?"

Had that been the real issue at hand, then maybe Judai shouldn't have let Sora run off in the first place. No, this was probably just Judai wanting to keep an eye on things, and wanting to be close at hand in case something would happen.

Knowing Yuto and Shun were likely to be in the vicinity, it would not be impossible after all. Sure, Yuto's scheduled duel with Sora was tomorrow, but− There was really no point Yuya in worrying about it, was there?

"Go ahead," Yuya said, turning his attention back to the ongoing duel. "We're perfectly fine without you."

Judai laughed and left.

In the corner of his eye, Yuya could see Yuzu's hand edge closer to the handle of her paper fan.

"Fifteen times," he heard her growl under her breath and felt a momentary sting of sympathy for Judai. It was gone quickly though, because Judai most certainly deserved it.

So, Yuya opted to think little more of it, at least for now. Ayu's duel was still ongoing, and they had to be there to cheer her on. Practicing Entertainment Duelling without an interested audience wasn't the same after all.

"You're doing great, Ayu! Keep it up!"

-V-

Unfortunately, as it turned out, the student from LDS was no easy opponent to defeat. Ayu had fought bravely. In the end though, it wasn't enough.

"I did my best, but I lost…"

She'd lost, but there was no shame in that.

"Ayu," Yuya said, leaning forward. "There's always tomorrow. Believe that you'll win tomorrow and the day after that and keep taking one step forward. We'll work on your Fusion summoning, and then−"

Ayu wiped away her tears.

"Then I'm gonna come back and kick his ass!" she declared, flinging out her hand to point at her opponent. "Did you hear that, you−Oh."

Her opponent seemed to have left already, and without following proper duelling etiquette at that. Much like it was customary to start with the duelling chant, it was also customary to address your opponent afterwards, typically to comment that it was a good duel or something like that.

"Well, whatever," Ayu said after a while, turning on her heel. "Come on, you guys! Let's go watch Big Sis kick some ass!"

Yuya's eyes darted towards Ayu's parents who were displaying expressions of surprise, even mild shock. For a brief moment, Yuya felt as though they were all going to get scolded or something for teaching Ayu to speak like that, but then−

"Yes!" Ayu's father shouted excitedly before turning to his wife. "Honey, I got it on video! She's so fierce! Our little warrior princess!"

Suddenly, Yuya was relieved that his mother, while supportive, had never insisted on making private home videos. Because that would have been terribly embarrassing.

-V-

"Okay!" Yuzu straightened her hair, clothing and duel disk. "Time for revenge! Let's do this!"

"It's payback time!" Ayu agreed, rather enthusiastic. "Better beat those LDS people down once and for all, Big Sis!"

Wow. On one hand, it was a great thing that Ayu didn't seem very bothered by her loss. But had she always been this… fierce?

Then again, Ayu clearly admired Yuzu, and Yuzu could be quite fierce, so… where was Yuya headed with this again?

"Good luck!" he told her. "Show them all just how much you've improved."

"Of course! She's my fated rival and this time around, I definitely won't lose," Yuzu affirmed before turning to stalk towards the exit.

Her father wiped a tear away, mumbling in an unusually quiet tone. "That's my daughter!"

He turned towards the rest of them, raising his voice once more. "Alright! We gotta hurry to our seats! My lovely daughter's about to Duel!"

They cheered and quickly made their way towards their seats. Yuya was quick to spot his mother, and alongside her, Sora.

The pair noticed Yuya and the others just around the same time, and Yuya's mother offered up a smile and a slight wave whereas Sora just kind of blinked at them and then withdrew the lollipop from his mouth.

"Where's Master?" he asked. "Wasn't he with you guys?"

And Johan was also gone.

Yuya experienced a sudden urge to facepalm. Instead he pulled out his phone.

Surprisingly, Judai picked up on the second ring; Yuya hadn't been sure that he would pick up at all. His first words however were somewhat expected. "Hi, Yuya. Yeah, something came up. It might take a while."

Really. "Yuzu won't go easy on you for this. I heard her mutter something about fifteen whacks a while back, but once she learns about you ditching her Duel−"

There was a slight laugh from the other end. "Well, I guess I better watch out then. Besides, I'm definitely watching it; on a monitor, but still."

On a monitor? "Where are you?"

There was a brief pause at that.

"Dunno actually," Judai finally said.

"I mean, I know where I am," he corrected himself. "Well, more or less, but I don't know what this place is called. Besides, do you really have time to keep chatting with me? The Duel's about to start."

Judai was right. And he didn't seem to be lying either, at least not at the moment. That said however− "You better have a good explanation for this later."

-V-

Judai better have either a good explanation or a decent excuse, because Yuzu would hardly accept anything less. In fact, it was debatable if she would accept even that.

Granted, Yuzu was in a pretty good mood after the duel, for obvious reasons. She had after all achieved what she came for and then some, winning not just the duel but also the acknowledgement of not just one but two acclaimed users of Fusion – Sora and Masumi – for her successful application of Fusion Summoning.

Her first Fusion Summon, Schuberta the Melodious Maestra, had the effect of banishing all cards used to Fusion Summon once per turn and temporarily gaining ATK for them, which incidentally had been the perfect way to counter Masumi's Gem Knight Master Diamond, which gained ATK for each Gem-type Monster in her Graveyard.

Sure, Masumi had still had a way to counter, proving herself capable of Fusion Summoning not just from the Hand or the Field or the Graveyard but from her Deck as well. Heck, even Sora seemed impressed to see that.

Masumi had managed to Summon her ace Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond, with 0 ATK and 0 DEF and then, by discarding a Spell Card – the Action Card Evasion – she had managed to restore the ATK and DEF to normal and attack Schuberta, destroying it.

This had dropped Yuzu's LP and the shockwaves had sent her over the railing.

For a brief moment, Yuya had felt as though his heart was about to stop.

The Action Field, Infinite Bridge, with its network of crisscrossing walkways was a decidedly risky one. Like Nico Smiley had said, one misstep meant a headfirst drop into the abyss down below, and the sheer indication that this was about to happen to Yuzu had been enough to make the blood freeze in his veins.

Sure, Yuzu had managed to not just grab onto the railing in time; she had managed to counter Masumi's strategies and turn the duel back into her own favour, managing to launch a counterattack even after her LP had been reduced to 100. Furthermore, Yuzu had managed to Fusion summon her new ace, Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir, and redirect the Battle Damage she would have taken from Masumi's attack.

Then, engaging in a battle of Traps and Action Cards, Yuzu had launched a particularly daring manoeuvre to reach an Action Card ahead of Masumi, Bloom Diva swooping in to catch her as she fell.

Bloom Diva had swooped in and caught Masumi too, after Masumi's LP had dropped to zero and the girl herself had lost her balance and taken the plunge.

Now, there were no words about Yuzu lacking any lustre. No, it was rather the opposite. Handing over the Crystal Rose card Yuzu had Special Summoned from her Graveyard, Masumi had said that Yuzu would need it to shine as brightly as she had today, and that Masumi wouldn't forgive her if she lost.

In any case, Yuzu had just won her first match, and she was in a fairly good mood, shining even brighter than usual. Only the fact that Judai had yet to show his face seemed to be putting a slight damper on her mood.

And right at that moment, when Masumi was already on her way, Johan appeared.

"Johan, Judai isn't with you?" Yoko greeted him, and out of the corner of his eye, Yuya saw Masumi's retreating steps come to an abrupt stop.

Before Johan could respond, Masumi whipped her head around to stare at him with narrowed eyes.

"You're the Gem Guy?" she said, because it wasn't really a question.

And then, only then did Yuya recall that Duel War incident that had concluded shortly after Johan's arrival at the scene. More so, he recalled the way in which it had all ended.

Going by Masumi's facial expression, there was little doubt that she also remembered the event, and likely with a whole lot of bitterness at that.

Johan no doubt sensed the resentment directed his way, because unlike Judai at times, he wasn't exactly dense. However, he displayed a warm smile in response and took a few steps towards her before extending his hand. "Johan Andersen. Masumi Kotsu, right? It was quite an impressive Duel."

Masumi stared at the hand and at him for several moments, and looked pretty ready to just turn on her heel and storm off. However, just then she took the proffered hand and shook it.

"So, 'Mr. Expert'…" she said at last. "A diamond in the rough or a polished quartz crystal – What am I?"

For a brief moment, Johan looked confused. He quickly covered it up with a smile though.

"Who would I be to define you, having only just met you?" he said at last. "I'm leaning towards diamond, personally, but…"

Masumi smiled, obviously satisfied with the answer, and left. She had only just made it out of earshot when Sora muttered that Johan had lain it on unnecessarily thick; that Masumi was impressive, sure, but not to that degree.

It was very lucky that Yuzu didn't hear him, because Yuya had a feeling that Yuzu would probably have hit him if she had. Because Masumi was Yuzu's rival now, and it wasn't Sora's place to talk smack about Yuzu's rival.

Speaking of rivals though… what about Yuya?

Sure, he had Yuzu and Gong, but they were his childhood friends and it wasn't the same, and they had other rivals. Sure, if everything went well, then Yuya would meet either of them in the finals, but… But that was only if they managed to win and continued winning and if Yuya did the same.

It would only be determined with time, and tomorrow marked the first step in the tournament for him and for Gong.

Still− "What happened to Judai?"

Johan's smile turned mildly sheepish at that and he turned to look towards the arena's exit. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Yuya was just about to ask what he meant by that when the doors opened to reveal Judai, who greeted them with a tired smile and a slight wave. He wasn't alone though.

Yoko whistled. "I see that Judai's following in our proud family tradition."

Proud family tradition?!

"Judai-bro?!" Futoshi crowed. "Isn't that−?!"

"−Riley?!" Ayu finished while Tatsuya looked on in obvious surprise.

This time around, Judai was the one who looked surprised.

"Riley?" he repeated, tilting his head to look at the child standing next to him. "Wasn't it Layra? Did I get it wrong?"

Instead of answering, the younger Akaba sibling attached himself to Judai's jacket. Everyone – well, almost everyone at any rate – was suitably weirded out. Heck, even Judai looked a bit out of his depth for once, looking helplessly towards them and towards Johan in particular.

Johan didn't look like he was about to step in though. Well, not physically at any rate. "Judai…"

A lot of things could be conveyed in a single utterance, depending on the tone along with other things. And Johan's tone conveyed a lot of things, at least to Yuya's ears; mild exasperation, mild impatience, mild amusement among other things. In any case, it seemed to motivate Judai to settle this situation – whatever this situation really was – once and for all.

Judai looked back towards Riley – Layra? – and hesitated. For a moment, he looked like he was about to pat the boy's head, but apparently thought better of it. Instead, he smiled and crouched down instead, putting them at approximately the same eye-level. "Say, Layra… Don't you think you should get back to your brother? I think he's down in the lobby, and most of the crowds should have dispersed by now, so…"

For a while, there was silence. Probably quite a bit of staring too, going by the angle. Then, the kid kind of dropped his head down and hugged his teddy bear tighter, uttering a barely audible "Okay" before dashing off back inside.

It made for a somewhat touching but nevertheless odd scene, to say the very least.

"Honestly, Judai… Akaba Reiji's little brother? How did that happen?"

That was an excellent question, really.

"Little brother?" Judai repeated, blinking. Then he pointed over his shoulder. "Layra's a girl, you know?"

"No way!"

"Are your eyes okay, Judai-bro?! Are you sure you don't need glasses?!"

Judai just kind of blinked at them. Then he looked a bit exasperated. "Layra's a girl."

"Are you sure, Judai?" Tatsuya asked what the rest were no doubt thinking. Well that, and the thing Futoshi had said just now.

"I'm pretty sure," Judai said. "But never mind that. Yuzu! I saw the Duel! It was awesome!"

"Masumi was here up until a minute ago. You just missed her."

"Masumi?"

"You know, Masumi Kotsu. My opponent. Gem Girl?"

"Ah."

"You remembered Akaba Layra's name with no problem, yet you forgot about Masumi's. How?"

"Ah ha ha ha. Yeah, my memory's pretty awful… and selective. So I've been told, at least."

Well, no shit.

-V-

Meanwhile, down in the lobby, two pairs of eyes looked on as two 'brothers' reunited. One pair belonged to Nakajima, watching from close by. The other pair belonged to Kurosaki Shun.

Naturally, Yuto was there too, but he didn't participate for more than a moment, playing the lookout while Shun was busy glaring. Also, Yuto was there to ensure that Shun didn't slip up and do something stupid simply because the sons of their hated enemy were just within reach.

But, contrary to popular belief, Shun had better self-control than that, especially so after a bit more sleep and a few proper meals. Which was not to say that he was in top shape; he ate and slept because of the mission, because of vengeance, and because he wanted to get his sister back.

The latter was probably the reason as to why Shun felt a stab of resentment at seeing the two children of Akaba Reo happily reunited whereas Ruri's ultimate fate was still unknown.

Ruri…

That girl from before, that Hiragi Yuzu…

Despite having been forewarned, seeing her had been a shock. For a while, Shun had allowed himself to hope. Yuto could have been wrong; Shun had told himself that. But…

Hiragi Yuzu was not Ruri, because Kurosaki Ruri would never have used Fusion.

"Shun."

Shun didn't answer.

Yuto persisted. "Come on."

Fine.

-V-