A/N: There are a few holes in canon I have to plug at this point in the story. One is Yuuri's backstory. Another is the decks of Rin and Ruri (see if you can work it out from the hints in this chapter). So when they come out afterwards, chances are they'll be different. People reading this after that fact, keep in mind this chapter was written while Arc-V was up to episode 67 and that information wasn't available then. The third hole is where in the world the previous canons fit in, particularly the Fusion one where we have the least hints (of GX). And the fourth is the official name for Yuuri's dragon and the deck that surrounds it. The only card in that deck we do know is Violet Flash and that's a generalised fusion support card. So lots of stuff that'll potentially be derailed by canon, but that's what happens with ongoing fandoms…

Ed: this chapter was actually written a while ago and I thought I'd posted but, but apparently not. Since then, Ruri has physically appeared – but not her deck, so I don't think that really changes anything.

Enjoy!

How They Met Themselves
Chapter 2 – Yuuri

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This is a world that has undergone a rapid change in recent times, and therefore his insertion into it is missed. He is simply one of the orphans who followed the military takeover, one of the orphans taken in by the Academia and trained.

Until he is revealed to not be on quite the same level as the other orphans.

And it's not the fact that he has no memories of his life before the Academia. It's how easily he absorbs the teachings, the conditioning. When the other children fight, he accepts. When they are learning to accept, he is developing what he's accepted long ago, finding further branches…

The Principal is proud of him. 'You will be someone who can carry on my ideals when I am gone.'

He is a sponge that soaks up all of those ideals and doesn't yet need to be wrung out.

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He learns how to duel. He is ready more quickly than the other children because he doesn't need to be deconditioned first, so he learns straight from the Military personnel. And they are harsh teachers. He doesn't have an emotion to attribute to it at the beginning, but soon he grows to enjoy it. And he enjoys his life as it is: his perfectly ordinary life. Not like the other children who whine and cry until their dissatisfaction is beaten out of them.

He has no dissatisfaction to beat out of him, and that means he is more valuable. He can learn faster.

So he learns how to duel. Initially, they are wary. They don't let him have a deck. They don't even let him have real cards. Instead, they are paper and he is training his body and his mind. They use real monsters against him, though. They don't pull their punches just because he's a kid. They pull his punches only when he makes the right call.

And he does. Frequently. And when that number climbs up so that the people at the top are beyond satisfied, he gets to use cards. Weak, common cards first, but he proves himself with them without proving to be a threat, and he eventually is rewarded with better ones. He's able to put together his own deck with the cream of the coup. He gets some rare cards as well. Nothing that will let him overwhelm the military of course. They are ever cautious and he is the sample they prime to ensure the quality of the rest.

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He's a strong child but even he has his eccentrics and he holds on to them. There's a garden where he dreams and that garden has beautiful music and beautiful birds and a beautiful moon and beautiful flowers growing. He's a typical boy in some aspects, so he thinks it's weird this beautiful place attracts him. It's almost girly.

But it attracts him nonetheless, and the flowers are what attract him most of all.

Maybe it's because his name is Yuuri. It's a girlish name but there's no-one to tease. They're all too busy being deconditioned, being trained – or doing the training.

None of them know what they're being trained for, but it's to do with the ideals being engraved in to them. And Yuuri wholeheartedly believes in them.

Still, there's something peaceful about the garden that makes him want to believe in that too.

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The last thing he learns about duelling is the art the Academia is famous and feared for – but he's not aware of that little tidbit at the time. He only sees fusion summoning as a way to bring out more power. But it's not just that. Or it is, but it's a different sort of power. Not the sort his brain can put together, but something his heart has to pull out.

And this is where he struggles. Where he disappoints his teachers because he's been so good at the other aspects of duelling they're sure he has the potential for a really powerful fusion summon. And maybe he does have that potential. But he struggles to tap in to it. He does the motions, calls the words, plays the right cards but the energy produced from his fusion summoning isn't enough to please them.

And, for the first time, Yuuri learns what it means to displease his teachers and the Principal.

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They try the standard method first. That is, to shock him repeatedly when he fails to achieve an adequate level. It's not torture: the level is barely higher than where he is now. It's achievable. But he struggles to achieve it. And he's shocked. And he bears with the pain and tries to reach that pedestal set for him – set shamefully low, according to the Military who trained him – but he still struggles.

At one point, he breaks and screams himself senseless. He is only injected with a tranquiliser and given a day's grace before the training starts up again.

Needless to say, he breaks many times thereafter.

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Eventually, he reaches the levels that satisfy the Principal. He overshoots them, actually. He breaks one of their machines. But they are inordinately pleased and he'd told the shocks will stop now so he's relieved. More than that, he's happy. The Principal is pleased with him again. And so are his teachers. That long time, blurred with pain, is all worth it for that.

Still, it takes some weeks before he is able to do more than just stumble and play the same cards over and over again. And when he looks at those cards afterwards, he realises they're not the same cards he'd started with. They've changed them. Maybe multiple times in case there was a more powerful combination somewhere. These two cards, he's sure, don't have a fusion at all.

He's wrong. They do have one. He finds the card in his extra deck, though he doesn't remember seeing it before. It must be a reward for a job well done, or something similar. It's a strong card, whatever it is. Grey Renaissance Fusion Dragon. A fitting name as well, except the grey. The dragon is purple in colour. Purple lined with black. But grey is also the colour of ash, and Grey Renaissance Fusion Dragon proves to have a strong flame.

Once he's recovered, the Principal gives him a coat like the special ones in the Military wear, and says it is fitting for him.

Yuuri beams.

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There are new people once he's started walking around, started training others. The Principal gives him leave to pick out ones he thinks are special. He hasn't found many of those, sadly. Most are painfully ordinary. There are a few interesting ones. And a few others who just thing they're interesting.

Dennis Macfield is one of the former. Sora Shiun'in is one of the latter.

He trains them both regardless, because he isn't exactly spoilt for choice. Maybe he's too soft with them. Dennis grins too much. Sora mouths off too much. Then it's time to teach them fusion, and Sora turns out to have a similar problem to him.

Luckily, he knows exactly what to do.

And Sora's screams easily spur him on.

He wonders if it's the same with the teachers, with the Principal. He wonders if screams spur them on as well. Make them want to smile as they watched the screamer struggle towards a worthy cause.

Still, it's a relief when Sora finally crosses the minimum threshold set by the Academia. It's not the threshold he'd been given himself, not by afar. And months of work don't get him any higher.

On the other hand, Dennis has little problem reaching the threshold. Though he only just reaches it. And he watches with changing expressions as Sora struggles to his.

Maybe he wonders why nobody interferes. Maybe he understands.

Whatever. It didn't really bother him.

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The Academia is a large place, but in truth it's only a small part of the world they live in. And that's only a small part of the universe. Yuuri is one of the Principal's favourites. So he's taken into confidence and told a few secrets the main Military knows nothing about.

Like the fact that there are four dimensions out there, and other summoning methods not found in this world. Yuuri is taught one of them. The Principal offers his pupils the chance for the other.

They fight for it. Yuuri is not surprised when Dennis wins. He could have called that without the trouble of making them fight. But Sora is angry. Sora is…a mistake, but a necessary one. The Principal thinks he's enough to be elite still and Yuuri doesn't complain. Sora is taken away to do something else. Training others, he hears. It's almost a relief. Yuuri can't say he's liked teaching very much. It grates on his nerves.

He likes the next task much better. Learning always makes him feel useful. Teaching on the other hand makes him feel expendable. And the task after that he likes even more. He gets a loose reign in a new dimension, as long as he kidnaps some girl when the Academia is ready for her.

He's not sure he understands the reason for the delay, but he gets the free reign. It's an opportunity to learn more about the world than simpleton adventurers. It's a way to establish contacts: to find allies, and enemies, and a weak point to exploit. It's a chance to set the world up to fail, because that's the objective of the Academia, to rule all.

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He masters the new summoning method, this time with less pain than before. It also less power, but that's fine. He wants to blend in after all, not stand out. And a strong signal will make him stand out.

Before he can leave, he's interrupted. There's a man, and suddenly every able unit is dispatched to take care of him. Yuuri goes as well, his Grey Renaissance following behind like a beacon to call out his prey. And the man takes the bait and comes. He stares at the monstrosity with a sad expression.

It angers Yuuri. Why does the man wear such an expression on his face? The dragon longs to be of use but that's not a thing to be strong about. It's proud. Yuuri knows it because he's proud as well. He's found the man that Academia wants dealt with. And he'll deal with him as well.

Except it turns out to not be so easy. He doesn't know who this man is but he has a powerful dragon as well. A dragon that's already evolved. A dragon that knows what it wants and what is just a monster effect trying to ensnare it. Yuuri doesn't know where this man has come from or why now. He doesn't know where the man disappears to either, but one moment their dragons are fighting and the next moment they're both gone.

What he doesn't realise is that man is a moth drawn to his flame, mistaken for a similar but different flame. And that realisation has caused a certain pendulum to change direction.

Yuuri doesn't know much about the Fusion Dimension outside the Academia, but the resistance eases off nonetheless. Not enough to make a difference, but enough to be noticeable. And the Principal is content to let them bide their time as his army grows.