Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/3387884.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh!_GX, Yu-Gi-Oh!_5D's
  Relationship:
      Fudou_Yuusei/Yuuki_Juudai, Yusei_Fudo/Jaden_Yuki
  Character:
      Yuuki_Juudai_|_Jaden_Yuki, Fudou_Yuusei, Mutou_Yuugi, Mazaki_Anzu_|_Tea
      Gardner, Jounouchi_Katsuya_|_Joey_Wheeler, Honda_Hiroto_|_Tristan_Taylor,
      Rex_Godwin, Kaiba_Seto, Tenjouin_Asuka_|_Alexis_Rhodes
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe, High_School, College, Roommates, Age_Difference,
      Aged-Up_Character(s), Yusei_is_an_awkward_dork, Judai_is_a_smooth_dork,
      Everyone_is_a_dork, Especially_the_main_pair, Plot_subject_to_rewrite_at
      any_moment, Plot_Twists, (hopefully), Eventual_Smut, (maybe), some_canon
      elements, Illegal_Cats, Alternate_Universe_-_Canon_Divergence, (I
      think?), Slow_Build, Seriously_y'all_I'm_takin'_my_time, Slow_To_Update,
      (probably), Starshipping
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-02-19 Updated: 2015-05-03 Chapters: 5/? Words: 27360
****** Nux Historia ******
by 6lilystrings9
Summary
     Judai is a college sophomore with the weird habit of talking to
     himself. Yusei is a high school freshman with a complicated history
     and no idea why he has such a weird birthmark. Somewhere love is
     going to happen here.
     Also, Pharoah is there even though pets are totally against their
     landlady's rules.
Notes
     So this is my first work, and for a virtually dead(?) fandom at that.
     I hope my 3AM garbage ideas work out.
***** Settling In (but not really) *****
Chapter Summary
     School sucks Yusei. Get used to it.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
When Yusei met Judai for the first time he was left with the strangest
impression, a gut feeling if you will, that Judai was more than he appeared to
be. It something like a pull at something deep inside of him that made him
think Judai was a lot smarter than his energetic and simple-mindedly plucky
personality let on.
It was when he was treated to the sight of the brunette moving his things into
their nice apartment that his gut impressions were confirmed. As his ears
picked up his roommate shuffling things around in his own bedroom, Yusei’s eyes
spotted Judai’s textbooks. Supplementary textbooks in mathematics made sense
for a college student, but there were some unrelated hobbyist texts there that
he, oddly enough, found both predictable and surprising. Namely the Duel
Monsters Encyclopedia and other enthusiast paraphernalia for the niche hobby.
Even though Judai hasn’t been seen with a single card, the interest in the game
struck Yusei as oddly fitting. Right, somehow.
That all being said, there were some books that completely threw him for a
loop, like theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, and advanced astronomical
sciences like astrophysics. Looking at Judai’s overabundance of energy as he
busied strangely through the apartment like a restless puppy, Yusei wouldn’t
think Judai capable of sitting through complex science lectures with titles he
could barely read. But if his roommate was taking this level of academia as a
sophomore, he must have been quite talented.Though that only begged the
question of why someone so apparently talented in complex sciences would need a
supplementary mathematics textbook.
Odd collection of textbooks aside, it was just another lesson for him not to
judge other’s capabilities by outward appearances. A man in his position should
know that better than anyone.
Judai didn’t seem to own much, going by the small size of the mover’s vehicle
and how quickly he finished with a lazy flop onto the red and cream sofa. “I
sold most of it.” he supplied with an answering grin to Yusei’s puzzled look.
 “I figured my roomie would have his own stuff and didn’t wanna crowd the
place.”
Yusei looked at the sparse room with a slightly guilty look. He had come with
the clothes on his back, his deck, his bike, and a twenty-thousand yen
allowance packed neatly in his pocket, supplied by –and Yusei resisted gritting
his teeth a little- Godwin. His roommate sold all his furniture for nothing.
“Sorry.” He said, mostly apologizing for the situation itself. He came from
Satellite, so it should go without saying he didn’t have much in the way of
valuables worth taking into a new apartment. He couldn’t feel guilty about
that, about not owning much, but he did feel a little bad about his roommate’s
furniture mishap.
 “Nah, it’s cool.” Judai said with a sheepish grin. “It’s my fault for not
asking first.”
 Yusei nodded and hesitated to ask his next question, but as a duelist he
craved the knowledge. “I apologize for prying, Judai, but I saw those Duel
Monsters books. Are you a duelist?”
 There was a brief flicker of something in his brown eyes; Yusei couldn’t tell
what it meant. Whatever took over his thoughts seemed to have passed, because
Judai responded after a short second spent staring into space. “Actually, yeah.
And I’m not bad at it either. Why? Did you wanna play?” His wicked grin spoke
volumes of just how “not bad” he was.
 “Maybe later.” Yusei said apologetically at Judai’s disappointed face, feeling
a little disappointed himself. “I really need to finish the paperwork for
school.”
 Judai’s face lit up, instantly bouncing between moods with a fluidity that
kind of amazed Yusei. “Oh that’s right, you’re in high school! A freshman,
right?”
He nodded, but didn’t feel the need to mention that he was going to be a year
older than his classmates.
“Well, I guess it can wait then.” Judai said with a face that looked like he
was eating a lemon. It was a childish pout that Yusei couldn’t resist briefly
smiling at. His roommate’s open expressiveness and cheer was foreign to him,
after everything, but it was also warm and refreshing.
 Yusei settled back into his room to finish the paperwork he had forgone in
favor of helping Judai move his things in. Most of the papers were a basic
inquiry on his financial, racial, and medical history. Some were more complex
questionnaires as to the nature of his criminal history, as evidenced by his
facial tracker, and the likelihood of him repeating his crimes. One was a
survey about his home life that he knew to be a thinly-veiled probe into
possible personal weaknesses; he suspected this one might have been Godwin’s
doing.
He filled them out as best he could while trying to avoid the bad taste in his
mouth developed from thinking about shairng his personal history to strangers
and Godwin. It was a necessary evil, though, if he wanted his end of the deal.
It was dark by the time he was finished, so Yusei neatly packed the papers into
his new school issued book-bag and tucked into bed.
 
---
 
He never was a late riser, despite also being a night owl. It seemed that no
matter how little sleep he got he would always rise with the sun. He quickly
dressed himself into the blue uniform, buttoned and assembled with textbook
propriety, and prepared a simple rice and miso breakfast. He had heard
somewhere that western-style breakfasts were popular in the city and were even
quicker to make, but they were unheard of in Satellite and he didn’t know how
to make them. Yusei wasn’t even sure what exactly a “western-style breakfast”
was. He might ask Judai sometime.
He quickly brushed his teeth and was out the door, revving up the red
motorcycle that he had built from scraps and rode off for school.
He still couldn’t believe it. School. Satellite didn’t have a way of formal
education; he was taught to read and write at his orphanage, but he doubted it
was enough to get by in formal education. Yusei hardly knew any traditional
kanji and he only knew what little he did because, as a mechanic, he had to
learn to understand instruction manuals. While he was good enough now to tinker
without always knowing what he was dealing with, he certainly wasn’t when he
was starting out and he had the small scars on his hands to prove how many
times his projects had gone awry.
While he didn’t particularly care about fitting in, he at least hoped he
wouldn’t make a spectacle of himself. Unlikely, given the marks on his face
alone would be a beacon for negative attention.
Domino High School was oddly quaint in the middle of Domino City, where it was
next to high-tech and state of the art buildings. It was a public school, so it
wasn’t as updated as the nearby nicer ones. But everything in the city was nice
compared to Satellite, so Yusei could hardly find anything to complain about.
He found the student entrance by following the mass of blue and pink uniforms
inside while trying to keep his face down, but the inside of the school was
strangely designed. Rather than straight long hallways and stairs to keep
things organized, there were many intersections and stairs within rooms. It
took some searching, but he found the office in the west wing of the building.
Odd, because it made more sense for the middle to have those central services.
Domino High School must have been an old school with additional architecture
and buildings haphazardly tacked on as time went by. Yusei was vaguely aware of
reading about that somewhere.
“Excuse me.” He said politely to a secretary typing something into a computer.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” She smiled apologetically before she peeked around
the computer to see who she was talking to; her cheer instantly vanished at the
sight of his face. “...I-Is there something I can do for you?”
He gently slid his papers across the counter. “I’m the new transfer student.
Fudo Yusei. I brought my paperwork.”
The woman took the papers from him with an anxious glance at his mark and
looked back to her computer. “It looks like your homeroom number is C-1. If you
you get to class before eight o’clock, just wait outside the door for the
teacher to let you in. I-If you’re late, no big deal- just go on in. There’s a
bin of maps over there.” She gestured to a metal container with a nervous
finger.
“Thank you very much.” He bowed politely, allowing the woman’s attitude to roll
off his back. No need to ruin his mood so early over something that would no
doubt persist all day. Still, he was thankful; the school had such an insane
layout, a map was a godsend. He felt a flash of disbelief when Yusei saw that
he had ten minutes to go exactly on the other far side of school and up the
stairs to his classroom. He was by no means lazy, but walking back and forth
across the school was a little tedious when it was because of poor floor
planning.
“I’m Fudo Yusei. Pleased to meet you.” He introduced himself to a crowd of
mixed reactions. None of them were happy, much to his dismay. Most looked
openly terrified once they finally registered the hard yellow trackers marking
his face as a criminal’s, some wore the openly horrified fascination one
reserved for deadly vehicular collisions, and a small handful of others looked
aggressive and challenging. Hopefully they could keep from picking fights on
his first day in a ridiculous effort to fortify their place as the school’s
tough guy or something.
Yusei wouldn’t pick any fights, couldn’t afford to pick any fights, but he
refused to hold back if someone pushes him far enough that he has to resort to
physical violence.
 “Let’s see.” The teacher said, voice a little strained and matching the
equally tense atmosphere of the students. He wasn’t watching her eyes, but
judging how each student would tense and make pleading faces at timed
intervals, he would guess she was picking out a desk for him and the nearby
students were begging her not to pick a seat close to them.
And if being treated like a rabid and dangerous animal wasn’t both ridiculous
and degrading, he didn’t know what was. Yusei reminded himself not to let it
bother him. He normally wasn’t so conscious about others’ opinions.
“How about next to Muto-kun?” The teacher motioned to a small boy with tri-
colored hair. The kid visibly swallowed; Yusei supposed his face must have
grown intimidating in the past few months. His classmates confirmed as much
with their poorly hidden gossipping. He could even spot a brown haired girl
glaring at him from the corner of his eye.
That being said, he didn’t have any protests and the seat itself was out of the
way. Wordlessly, he sat down after a short walk to his desk that felt like some
kind of horrific death march. Even before he had been visibly branded a
Satellite criminal, Yusei knew from experience that his stony silence and stoic
face intimidated some people. He didn’t even have a particularly bad or unkind
attitude- he was just very quiet, reserved, and wasn’t one to smile much. He
didn’t need a mirror to know his expression must have hardened considerably
from his seven months long stint in prison, and that coupled with the brand on
his face carrying all it’s prejudices with it probably made for a terrifying
image of a cutthroat criminal. Especially to city kids he couldn’t bring
himself to think of as anything but utterly pampered on the backs of his and
his friends’ hard work.
 “Did you see his face?”
“Scary…”
 ”My friend told me he killed someone. He set them on fire.”
“What? Someone just texted me that it was five and with an ATM!”
 “Dude, I saw him on a motorcycle! It’s illegal for kids our age to drive!”
“He really is a delinquent.”
 “Maan, why’d he have to come here?”
 ‘I wonder that too.’ Yusei thought wryly over the cacophony of whispers. It
was the third class of the day and they still hadn’t stopped. Wouldn’t they
have run out of things to say by now…?

From across the room he could see the teacher trying valiantly and failing
spectacularly to keep some form of their attention onto her mathematics lesson
displayed on the board. He was curious why she wouldn’t just call the class
out. Yusei wasn’t one to particularly care about what strangers thought of him,
but the persistent and obvious gossiping was rude and obnoxious, especially to
the teacher. Wouldn’t that warrant her to say something, if not for him, than
for her?
Thankfully after this class was a lunch and a short recess. There were five
classes a day and each were ninety minutes long. The first set of five were on
one day and a second set of five on the next, and then the first set back again
on the next day. It made for a rotating schedule that  totaled to ten classes
per semester; nine of them were required classes and one was an elective of
your choice. Yusei chose HVAC because it was the closest this school had to
genuine mechanical engineering. At least the class would be easy, and he
certainly needed the good grades, but the accompanying tedium soured the joy he
didn’t even feel for the lack of any interesting challenge.
But now this third class was drawing to a fruitless close and a cross between
lunch and a study period would start. Well, it was called a “study period”, but
the kids didn’t have to actually study. They were apparently given free reign
so long as they did something with themselves. Most of the guys were planning
to go play basketball while it seemed the girls preferred to watch while they
ate and played around with their phones. At least, that’s what he could deduce
from the scattered and rare exchanges that had nothing to do with his
apparently bloodthirsty nature.
The teacher gathered her things and filed out of the room with an expression so
spectacularly annoyed Yusei had to wonder again why she didn’t just call the
class out. For some reason the teachers in Domino City were more reluctant to
do so than Satellite teachers and he figured it was probably because it was a
matter of detached professionalism. Teachers here taught because it was their
job, while teachers in Satellite taught because they wanted to. That’s what
made sense to him, anyways.
 For lunch Yusei had packed a small and modest meal because he had never been a
big eater. No one in Satellite could really afford to be. Not that they were
outright starving, just that they never had quite enough either. They were
dropped monthly care packages of food, utilities, and sometimes cigarettes at
distribution centers and what you were given is what you got. There were no
grocery stores or restaurants or fast food joints if you and your family were
still hungry. It was why cigarettes and food were the real currency of
Satellite. In that way, Satellite and prison were very much alike.
He patiently waited for the kids to file out first because he suspected
suddenly rising to leave would startle his already terrified classmates.
Eventually it came to a point where only he and Muto were left after the latter
shyly refused an offer to play with the excuse that any team that picked him
always seemed to lose. While that may have been true, it seemed the boy was
more interested in the strange game he was playing anyways. He didn’t even
notice Yusei was looking at him for an extended period of time; an impressive
feat when the rest of the class looked like a deer in headlights whenever he so
much as turned his head in their general direction. The game must have been
fun.
He had just left the classroom when he felt a violent shove on his left
shoulder. A quick glance to the side revealed a sour-looking blonde and a
sneering brunette, both of whom sent challenging looks at him.

Yusei felt a mixture of bemusement and disbelief; it was silly that people were
already picking fights with him for no real reason other than because he was
branded. Those two were very lucky he was more collected than the hardened
criminals from Satellite Correctional, otherwise they’d find themselves with a
mouth full of broken teeth. Yusei knew they weren’t worth the trouble and had
intended to leave without rising to the bait, but it didn’t escape his notice
that something inside the classroom held their interest. After just a minute
his keen ears picked up muffled yelling from a high voice. With a sinking
feeling, he turned back and re-entered the classroom.
Chapter End Notes
     So first of all, we gotta get it clear that I ain't very detail
     oriented. I mean- ain't nobody got time for that ish! What I'm saying
     is, if I ever contradict my own writing, please tell me so I can fix
     it.
***** Illegal Cats (IDK okay I suck at chapter titles) *****
Chapter Summary
     Makin' dem' tomodachis in yer gakuen.
Chapter Notes
     Oh Yusei, you and your social awkwardness. Oh Judai, you and your
     illegal felines.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
It would seem bullies were a universal presence, even in the supposedly utopian
Domino City. Few things could set Yusei off as fast as bullying and certain
people were quick to learn that. As he snatched the odd golden box out of the
shorter bully’s hands, he hoped they would learn just as quickly.
“The hell-?!” The blonde sputtered when he felt the box suddenly leave his
hands. He was lounging with a typical devil-may-care attitude and loose limbs,
so it was easy to take. All eyes were on Yusei now, two angry sets and a round
purple pair looking rather surprised.
The taller brunette growled. “Fudo? Here to pick a fight?”
His friend sneered. “‘Bout time. I was almost worried he was all talk.”
Yusei resisted the uncharacteristically immature urge to dignify the blonde’s
goading with the fact that he had barely spoken a word all day. It was the
kids’ neverending gossiping that made him out to be some kind of deranged
psychopath. “You should go.” He said calmly, smothering a flash of annoyance.
“Why? What’re you gonna do about it?”
Nothing, so long as those two didn’t strike at him first. But Yusei knew a
couple of hot-heads when he saw them and they weren’t likely to back down
without a fight.
“What? Got nothin’? Figures, coming from Satellite trash! You’re just as stupid
as Yugi and his weird box!”
“If it’s so stupid then why don’t you guys just leave him alone?!” A voice,
sharp and feminine, called from the door behind Yusei. This time, all eyes were
on a pretty brunette that Yusei recognized as the one that glared at him
earlier. Her blue eyes were sharpened into a surprisingly fearsome glare that
quickly zeroed on Yusei’s hand. “Give Yugi his box back, Fudo!” She marched up
to him with all the intimidation her five-feet and four-inches could muster.
So she thought he was one of the bullies too…? He didn’t even bother trying to
correct her and handed the box back to Yugi, who hadn’t yet taken off that
expression of dumb shock. That slowness was definitely something Yusei had seen
before; people who weren’t used to others caring enough to help them from
trouble sometimes needed extra time to process when help finally came. The
mechanic supposed Muto had been bullied for a long time.
One of the bullies scowled. “Nosy woman.” He was interrupted from whatever he
was going to say next when his shoulder was clasped by the blonde, who forcibly
turned his friend around.
“Whatever, man.” He said sourly as he directed the brunette with him. “This
stupid shit ain’t worth it.”
There was barely a pregnant pause after they left before the girl turned her
optical daggers back at Yusei. “And what about you?! Barely your first day and
you’re already picking on someo-!”
Yusei himself was content to just silently let her rant false accusations and
leave when she finally finished, but a small voice cut in, sounding almost
desperate. “Anzu, no!”
“Huh?” She turned questioningly to the small boy, who had moved a little in
front of Yusei like his tiny body could actually protect someone that had at
least nine inches on him.
“F-Fudo-san helped me… He got the box back from Jonouchi-kun.” Muto sent a
small and shy but grateful smile over his shoulder and the mechanic was struck
with the odd thought that he was the first to truly smile at him besides Judai.
Judai probably shouldn’t even count, because he was… odd.
“O-oh… Oh!” There was a delayed pause before the implications of Muto’s words
struck a mental chord in Anzu, who instantly bowed apologetically. “I’m so
sorry! I opened the door and saw you with Yugi’s box so I had assumed…”
Yusei held out a hand. “It’s fine.” He said quickly. As much as it soothed his
slightly bruised patience for someone to finally realize he didn’t prowl around
at night for orphans and puppy blood, it had always embarrassed him a little to
be thanked or apologized to so vehemently.
She looked a little reluctant, but thankfully let it be. “Well, I’m Mazaki
Anzu. Thanks for helping Yugi.”
“Oh, right! I’m Muto Yugi.” Muto introduced himself and beamed, purple eyes
bright and shining. “But… wow, thank you Fudo-san!” Muto beamed and Yusei began
to feel incredibly self-conscious, fighting down a light blush at so much
thanks and praise and smiles that he never was used to in the first place and
had forgotten how to deal with. “And thank you Anzu! One word from you and they
actually ran away!”

‘Probably because they aren’t the type to hit girls.’ Yusei mused, familiar
with the difference between a couple of punk kids and real, dangerous
criminals.
Mazaki sighed. “You don’t need to thank me. It just really bothers me to see
nice guys like you get pushed around.” She huffed and Yusei saw another small
rant coming on. “Honestly, almost all the guys in our class are the worst! Just
the other day they actually invited the girls to play and I immediately
suspected something was up..."
Yusei wondered if he should just grab his lunch and slip out now that his
business was done here. Where had he set it down again…? Right, on that desk
over there.
“Oh… a-are you going Fudo-san?” Muto’s voice and openly disappointed face
surprised him as he made for the door with his lunch in tow.
“Well-” he started, honestly not sure what to say now. The boy was friendly,
but Yusei thought he would have wanted to have lunch with his friend.
Maybe Muto understood what he was thinking or maybe it was just in his nature
to be so open, because he extended a shy invitation to eat with him and Mazaki.
The mechanic didn’t know anywhere private he could go yet and the two here were
probably the only ones in school who wouldn’t either stare or try to pick a
fight. He quietly moved a chair to the side of the short teen’s desk, as Mizaki
was sitting across from Muto, who was sitting in his normal seat.
”So,” Mazaki started as Yusei settled in. “what’s in that box anyways?”
The shorter teen visibly perked. “Well, I guess I can show you two. But promise
me you’ll keep it a secret!”
“Sure.” The brunette smiled and Yusei quietly nodded. It wasn’t like he had
anyone to tell besides Judai, and Judai is probably one of the nicest people
he’s ever met.
At their agreement, Muto was more than happy to show off his treasure. The lid
came off to reveal an assortment of shining golden pieces of various shapes and
sizes.
She gasped and examined a piece. “They glitter like gold… Yugi, they’re so
pretty! But they’re disconnected and have some pretty weird shapes. Are they
parts to something?”
Yusei was initially hesitant to take a piece from the pile because refraining
from touching nice things that didn’t belong to him was a hard lesson learned a
long time ago. After a minute he caved in the face of Muto’s encouraging smile
and gingerly picked one up to examine it. They didn’t feel like decorative
plastic; it would seem the pieces were all solid gold. Come to think of it, the
box itself looked like it was made of gold too. He frowned and his brow creased
a little. It was dangerous to take something so valuable to school. If those
kids realized just how valuable the trinkets were Yusei doubted Muto would have
it for much longer. He opened his mouth to say as much when the boy started up
again.
“It’s a puzzle!” He declared eagerly, ecstatic from being able to share his
treasure and from Misaki’s enthusiasm. “I’ve never completed it and there
aren’t any pictures of the finished product, so I don’t know what it’s supposed
to be. There’s a riddle for it too: “You have seen it, but it can’t be seen.”’
“I live in a game shop.” Muto explained to Yusei. “There’s all sorts of rare
and unusual and exotic games for sale there. This one was just sitting in the
corner and gathering dust when I found it. Now I just like to think of it as a
potential memento of grandpa.”
A horrified look crossed Mazaki’s visage while the short teen was bent over his
puzzle box, fiddling around with the pieces. Her face grew sad for a second
before Muto looked back up and she quickly strained to smile again.
So Muto’s grandfather is dead? Hopefully it was something peaceful and natural
instead of sickness or worse. Yusei didn’t have any biological family that he
could speak of and never knew who his parents were, but he did have a surrogate
family in his friends back in Satellite. He hoped they were okay without him;
he was the one who really looked out for everyone and took care of problems. He
prayed no one was taking advantage of his absence to mess with his friends.
He was pulled out his darker train of thought when he noticed the other two
staring at him with twin looks of amusement. “...What?” He asked, embarrassed
at being caught spacing out like an airhead.
“Well… you’ll keep it secret, right Fudo-san?” Muto asked, red-faced and
bashful.
Yusei’s brow furrowed. Did he still not trust him to keep his puzzle a secret?
“I thought I already said yes?”
Misaki laughed. “No, you must have missed the entire conversation.”
“O-Oh, well that’s okay!” The shortest teen said quickly.
“It’s written on Yugi’s box that anyone who solves it will have a wish
granted.” The brunette explained with a mischievous smile.
“You didn’t have to tell him, Anzu!”
“But it is a really nice thought!”
After his own wishes blew up in his face and cost him months of his life, Yusei
himself was a little more cautious when it came to wishes. They really could
grant someone a lot of hope for the future, but that only made it more painful
when they shattered. It was important to have a sense of realism, but he wasn’t
about to ever discourage anyone. “It is.” He said simply. “But I won’t tell if
you don’t want me to.”
That seemed to assuage Muto’s frazzled nerves as he sighed in visible relief.
He glanced worriedly at his friend. “Anzu…”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else. You can trust me.” She winked. “So
what’s your wish when you solve it?”
Muto grinned. “That’s a secret!”
The rest of their lunch period and accompanying recess were spent in peaceful
conversation. Yusei himself was mostly quiet and content to listen to other two
chatter, pitching in the occasional comment. It was nice- this was nice. It had
been a while since he was able to enjoy eating with pleasant company and listen
to meaningless, amiable chatter. He had missed it.
All too soon, lunch was over and the kids were starting to trickle back in… and
immediately began whispering at the sight of him sitting with the runt of the
class and the- “Class Rep”? Whatever that was, they must have been referring to
Mazaki. Resisting the urge to shake his head, he put away the chair he borrowed
to sit on and returned to his desk. The rest of the day rolled by until the
final bell for the school day rang. He checked the chart for cleaning duty on
his way out and seeing his name wasn’t on for today, he quickly headed for his
bike. As much as he wanted to keep riding it to school he had a sinking feeling
it would be in danger of vandalism now that most of the student body knew it
was his. He lived close enough to school anyways, so walking wouldn’t be a
problem.
On his way out, he spotted Muto with a downright massive student and the small
teen was looking very uncomfortable. But by the time he reached the two the
conversation had apparently finished. “Muto-san.”
Said boy jumped at the sound of his name. “O-oh, Fudo-san!” He smiled.
Yusei looked at him for a while, just checking if he was okay. The kid looked
fine but… Well, was it really any of his business?
“U-um…”
Ah, he was staring. “Nothing.” It looked like everything was okay and it wasn’t
really his place to nose around in Muto’s affairs if there wasn’t an apparent
problem. He parked his bike to the left of the entrance, opposite of where Muto
was going. He inclined his head as goodbye.
“A-ah, Fudo-san!”
Yusei stopped at the sound of his voice and turned questioningly.
“See you tomorrow?” He asked, shyly.
The mechanic had a feeling something was happening here, but he couldn’t quite
figure it out. Instead of standing around and trying to puzzle out abstract
social developments, he just did what felt like the right thing to do. He
nodded. “Yeah.”
He rode home with an oddly light feeling in his chest. The last time he felt
that was a long time ago, with his family back in Satellite, surrounded by
laughter and familiarity. Maybe that abstract social development was making his
first friend in Domino City.
He arrived to his and Judai’s shared apartment to the odd sight of his roommate
talking to himself. As a quiet person Yusei didn’t do that sort of thing, but
plenty of his friends did so it wasn’t the act itself that was strange. What
was strange was that when people talked to themselves, it was usually quiet
mumbling as they followed and developed their train of thought aloud. When
Judai talked to himself, it was loud and energized- almost like a genuine
conversation with someone the mechanic couldn’t see. “Judai-san?” He furrowed
his brow, trying to puzzle out the odd sight. Once their living arrangements
had been made official, Judai insisted that his new “roomie” call him by his
first name. Since they were going to be seeing a lot of each other they might
as well forgo the formality reserved for strangers and casual acquaintances.
The brunette jumped a little. “Hey, Yusei! I didn’t hear you come in. How was
school?”
“It was fine.” It was a bit annoying at first, but Muto and Misaki helped
assuage his frayed patience at the end.
He laughed. “Just fine? If it’s just fine you’re not doing it right! Live it up
man- you only go to high school once!”
As silly as Judai’s words were, his energy was infectious and Yusei couldn’t
repress a light smile in the face of so much unadulterated cheer. When he had
first been told of Godwin’s assigned living quarters in a different apartment
he had immediately recoiled and insisted he’d find himself a place to live.
Unfortunately, he underestimated just how expensive living in the city was and
might have had to resort to living in one of the more hazardous districts if he
hadn’t met Judai. Yusei was eating lunch in one of the few places that didn’t
refuse him on sight and was searching through a public terminal to find a good
place to live when a flash of red blurred into the booth across from him.
“Hey there.” The strange man grinned; the expression wasn’t nervous or
conniving. In fact, the only thing more bizarre than his sudden appearance was
how natural his smile was.
Thrown off, the newly released Yusei could only nod in baffled greeting. “Can
I…?”
“Yes, in fact! And I think I can help you too.” The stranger answered his
question before he even really asked it. “I see from your terminal you’re
looking for a place to live, right?”
The teen immediately narrowed blue eyes and nodded cautiously. “I am.”
The man across him didn’t miss a beat even in the face of open suspicion.
“Well, I’m sure you noticed it’s pretty expensive here in the city so I’ll make
this quick for us. You see, I’m a dirt-poor college student starting his second
year in NDU but doesn’t have a place to stay anymore because his last roommates
graduated. If you and I both need a decent place to stay but can’t afford it,
then why don’t we become roommates and split the costs?” The man must have
deduced Yusei’s lack of funds by the trackers on his face. It was a practice
reserved solely for Satellites, and everyone knew Satellites didn’t have any
money.
But Yusei’s suspicion wasn’t assuaged in the slightest. One didn’t last as long
as he has by being trusting. “And how can I know it’s safe to trust you?"
“Sheesh, you’re a tough kid.” Even more than the suspicious luck of a man with
needs that matched his own just happening by, the mechanic couldn’t believe how
unyielding that cheerful smile was. “How do you know you can’t?”
“Experience.”
Finally, the smile was wiped off his face and Yusei couldn’t explain the
niggling feeling of regret. “Me too, believe it or not.” And the teenager
almost didn’t if not for the look in the newcomer’s eye. “And I hate to say it,
but you’re not in a position to play it safe. If you don’t take a chance on me
you’ll have to risk the dangerous parts of Domino to afford a place. Or do you
think some other guy will come along and offer to board with you, a branded
criminal? Did you consider that I’m taking a risk too?”
No, actually. The stranger was so cheerful it hadn’t crossed his mind that he
knew he was taking a risk talking to a criminal and offering to board with him,
especially when he didn’t even know what specific crimes he committed.
“Youaretaking a pretty big risk, talking to a branded criminal like me. What
makes you so sure I won’t hurt you?” It was a bold question that would’ve sent
the average Domino citizen immediately backtracking, but Judai held true and
plucky when any other guy would’ve reconsidered. Yusei instinctively knew that
was the norm for the stranger in red.
“Yup, but I’m sorta like you right now. I don’t have much of a choice. I mean,
I guess I could go find a non-criminal roommate, but I like to think I’m a good
judge of character.” There was something odd about the way he said that,
something meaningful that compelled Yusei to believe him. Made him want to
believe. “You don’t have the face of a bad guy.” And Judai smiled at him,
again. The odd thought just occurred to Yusei that before him was the first
person in Domino to genuinely smile at him. Not the plastic, practiced smiles
of Godwin or the nervous smiles of Domino citizens eager to get away from him,
but the simple human expression of affability.
He might admit privately that he was pretty much sold at that point.
“He-llo? Yusei?”
He had been caught buried in his thoughts again- why did that keep happening
today? “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“Sheesh, you always look serious, but you’re actually kind of a space case,
aren’t you?” Judai laughed.
He kind of was. Yusei didn’t talk much, but that was just another way of saying
he preoccupied himself with his mind rather than his mouth. He didn’t dignify
his roommate with an answer.
“I was asking if you still wanted that duel today. I got some time if you don’t
have any homework.” The way Judai said the word “homework” was like the very
concept was a particularly cute joke. Well, he definitely had homework, some of
which were for subjects he found himself to be sorely behind in, but the
alternating schedule gave him a generous amount of time to do it- two days.
Though that didn’t mean he was one to lie unnecessarily. “I do, but I have
today and tomorrow to do it.”
Judai whistled. “Procrastinating? Yusei, I almost believed you didn’t have it
in you.”
“Just go get your deck.” He said in amusement while his roommate hopped rather
than stood up and charged for his cards.
“I hope you’re ready to get your butt kicked!” Judai laughed from his room.
Yusei almost couldn’t believe it; his butt got kicked into the mud, dunked in a
vat of ice water, and was then squeezed and wrung out to dry. He wasn’t beaten
so soundly, but his opponent turned the tables from seemingly out of nowhere so
suddenly that he was left trying to piece together the last few seconds of
“What just happened?”
“Gotcha!” The brunette winked and made an odd gesture with his hand. “That was
pretty fun. You’re a great duelist, Yusei- you almost had me there!”
He really did. The Satellite was so sure he had Judai on the ropes. It had been
a while and a lot of card games since he lost to anyone. “You also, Judai-san.
Your Elemental Heroes and fusion strategies were impressive.” The deck was
seemingly unreliable just by the concept, but it sacrificed reliable balance
for versatility and strong effects. With just a single draw Judai could turn
the tide of an entire duel.
“Thanks, but your Syncro summons were nothin’ to sneeze at either!” Yusei
accepted the comment as graciously as he could, even if it was painful to think
that his deck was currently so incomplete.
Meow.
Judai froze. “Ah… Haha.”
The high schooler crossed his arms. “Judai-san, what was that noise?”
“Did I ever mention we have a third roommate?”
“No.”
The brunette opened the sliding door to his room and kneeled. Just as Yusei
feared, a skinny brown furball was buried in the crook of his arm when he
turned around. There was a long silence.
“No.”
“But-”
“Why did you bring your cat?” Pets were very much against the rules, according
to their landlady, and they could be kicked out if it were discovered. Of all
the things the Satellite pictured himself getting kicked out of the apartment
for, this was certainly not one of them.
“He’s not mine, but he had nowhere else to go!” Judai pleaded, brown eyes big
and imploring.
Yusei sighed. “Judai-san, you know we can’t keep it. Why didn’t you take it to
an adoption center? It would be taken care of there. We can’t afford to get
kicked out over a cat.”
“He was left in a cardboard box! In the cold!” The harsh resentment in the
normally sunny and amiable voice frankly surprised the mechanic. “Look at him-
he’s clearly starving!”
He looked at the bedraggled and ratty little thing, nosing into Judai’s thin
arms, and couldn’t deny the small pull in his chest. Small, dirty, and
unwanted. Those concepts were not unfamiliar to a Satellite. “...Do you really
want to risk our home for him?”
“Yes.” His roommate looked him straight in the eye. It figured; the college
student was definitely not the type to change his mind once he set his heart on
something. His bold, risk-taking nature was the whole reason they were even
rooming together.
“...Alright.” Yusei sighed, uncrossing his arms. It was always in his nature to
try and be more reasonable and responsible than his age, but he liked to think
he wasn’t heartless.
“Yes! Yusei, you’re awesome!” The new cat owner quickly but carefully set his
mangy feline down and before he knew it Judai was in the air and his vision was
filled with brown hair and black fabric. His roommate was hugging him.
Yusei was not at all accustomed to close physical contact. The last person to
hug him was his matron from when he was still a little kid- even Rally, young
as he is, was never one for touching and hugging. His arms hesitantly nudged at
Judai’s arms, gently communicating to him to please let go.
Not that his roommate was one to give up in the face of a lack of
reciprocation, the memory of their first meeting once again striking most
prominently in Yusei’s mind, but he seemed to take pity on him and his
discomfort just this once. Judai’s arms, wiry and deceptive to how much
surprising strength they possessed, released their captive. The brunette
grinned at Yusei’s mixed reaction of discomfort and embarrassment- it wasn’t
that he outright disliked physical proximity, just that he wasn’t in any form
accustomed to it. His eyes zeroed on Judai’s cocky grin, like he thought
kidnapping him from his comfort zone was a victory.
And his initial discomfort aside, maybe it was. It had been too long since
anyone was so comfortable with him, since anyone saw him as human enough to
hug.
The next day found him sitting with Muto again with Misaki nowhere to be seen.
“Sometimes she gets busy with her duties as class rep.” He explained before a
jaw-cracking yawn. “Ah, sorry! I stayed up late working on the puzzle.”
He nodded, “How far did you get?”
“Ah-ha, not very far… It’s hard.”
“You’ll get it.”
Muto beamed and Yusei still hadn’t gotten used to being smiled at by anyone but
Judai. It was different when his roommate smiled at him, probably because Judai
seemed the type to smile at everything. The rest of lunch passed in
companionable silence, save for the occasional exchange. Unlike most people,
Muto didn’t seem to mind Yusei’s quiet nature.
“Muto-san, do you know where the nearest restroom is?”
“Oh, once you’re out the door go left and down the hall- it’ll be to your
right.”
When Yusei returned, Muto had gone somewhere. He frowned; it wasn’t at all
Muto’s kind and considerate nature to just up and leave with no explanation.
The only thing he could think of was either he was called up by the school for
something or a classmate pulled him away. He waited for a solid fifteen minutes
before he got suspicious enough to go look for him. Yusei scribbled a quick
note and left it on Muto’s desk in case the gamer returned and confirmed he was
just paranoid.
The mechanic was careful in his search to not get lost himself by deciding to
look outside first and checking empty classrooms along the way outside. It was
during his search in the schoolyard that he found his classmate in a bruised
and crumpled heap in a shadowed niche. “Muto-san!” He said, checking over the
small teen when the corner of his eye spotted a pile of limbs looking even
worse. It was the blonde and his friend from the day before.
“Ah, F-Fudo-san…”
“What happened here?” He demanded in a hard tone. If there wasn’t such a
pressing matter before him, he’d have been surprised to hear the harsh voice of
an inmate. He was trying to leave some of that stuff behind in his effort to
rebuild lives, but it looked like it wouldn’t ever truly go away.
The boy visibly quailed at his tone and he knew he would have to take it down a
level or five if he didn’t want to scare him witless. “Listen… tell me who did
this.” He could ask ‘why’ while his foot was stuck firmly in the assailant’s
sternum. Somewhere along the past two days the kind face that made him think of
Rally and all the oppressed of Satellite had become something of a substitute
for his surrogate family. A surrogate for surrogates; Yusei wasn’t sure if Muto
would be offended or amused.
The object of his thoughts shook his tri-colored head. “N-No, don’t worry about
it Fudo-san.”
“You expect me to be okay with this?” Yusei wasn’t one to raise his voice and
his tone compensated this with severe inflections whenever he got angry.
“No! I just… I can handle this, okay?”
“You’re right. The bruises on your face say you definitely can.” Sarcasm was
always another sign Yusei was upset. Yusei fixed Muto with a long, hard stare
that the latter wouldn’t meet and there was a very long time spent in stony
silence. “...Fine.” It was clear he wouldn’t get an answer out of the kid any
way he looked at it.
The kid sent him a grateful look and took the Satellite’s offered hand. “Thank
you...” He glanced at the pair not far from him. “What should we do with them?”
Yusei inspected them with an experienced eye and knowledgeable hands. “It looks
like they’ll be fine.” He didn’t feel any broken bones and, even more telling,
the pair’s breathing was even and unhindered. The blonde’s eyes were rapidly
moving from under his lids.
“A-Are you sure?”
“Positive.” No matter how they treated Muto they were still just kids. Yusei
wouldn’t let anything seriously bad happen to them.
“I guess I should get home then...”
When they both agreed to go home, Yusei wasn’t too surprised to note they both
made a left outside the school gate. What surprised him is that they continued
to make the same turns. Eventually, the short puzzle-lover questioned this.
“Um, Fudo-san? Do you live in this direction?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, with Muto’s face growing more and
more a mixture of confusion and incredulity the more turns and the more
sidewalks they mutually took. The two were nearing Yusei’s shared apartment and
he stopped in front of it.
“Fudo-san?” He questioned.
“This is my stop.”
“What?! No way!” He jumped slightly at soft-spoken Muto’s unexpected outburst
and gave him a questioning look. The other blushed. “Sorry, it’s just- it’s so
nice and I live so close to you. My house is just two houses down… the one with
the red roof.” He pointed to his home; it was so close to Yusei’s apartment
that he could see it clearly even from where he was standing.
The flat he stayed in was medium-sized and gleaming with crystal glass and
delicate landscaping, but besides a pretty garden and nice frosted windows it
wasn’t anything particularly glamorous. It was chosen because it had just a
little more elbow room in terms of living space and it’s location was close to
both Neo Domino University and Domino Senior High. The latter is what made the
place so expensive. Location was the largest determining factor for the cost of
living in the city. Yusei suspected Muto pictured him to live in a seedy dump
and he would have if he had not met Judai.
“Huh.” Yusei hummed, unsure how to respond beyond the small sound.
“...M-Maybe you could come see the game shop sometime?” Muto shyly suggested
after another pregnant silence.
“Sure. Not today though- you need to get yourself treated first.” It probably
wouldn’t be a good idea to burden Muto with a guest when he had injuries to
treat and a body that needed rest.
He nodded. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then…” They parted ways after
that, Muto heading two houses down to his game shop and Yusei into his shared
apartment.
This time Yusei wasn’t greeted to the sight of Judai chattering to himself.
“Hey, you’re back!” The brunette greeted, looking up from a paper he was bent
over, furry cat curled against his thigh.
“Hello.” The high-schooler slipped his shoes off and placed them neatly beside
his roommate’s haphazardly tossed shoes. “What are you doing there?”
“Just some physics homework.” Judai cocked his head briefly and a thoughtful
look crossed his eyes before he turned back around and swiftly wrote a
complicated paragraph of numbers and symbols without even pausing. Yusei knew
from his roommate’s textbooks that he was smart, but this was ridiculous.
He wouldn’t deny to himself that he felt a little self-conscious in the face of
such dramatic intelligence. “...I’ll leave you to that then.” For all his
matron tried, his education in Satellite was lackluster and informal at best
and he was already struggling in most of his classes. If he could even read the
complicated written word of the pages he would more likely than not find he
still had no idea what they were talking about. It turned out that the writings
in the city used a fancy combination of kanji and kana. A single sentence would
be interchangeably sprinkled with letters from any of the three alphabets.
Yusei only knew hiragana and katakana to a more limited extent and barely knew
a handful of kanji, so he dreaded the day he would be given a written test.
When Godwin listed his first condition of doing well in school, Yusei couldn’t
have possibly imagined the sheer magnitude of challenge found even in the most
minute details. He would ask Judai for advice, but his roommate had his own
studies to deal with.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Yusei?”
He’d been spacing out again. “It’s nothing.” He dismissed, suppressing a light
flush at being caught repeatedly in his thoughts.
The other male looked slightly reluctant. “Well, you know that if I can ever
help I’d be more than happy to, right?”
The admission surprised Yusei- an offer of support was not… He hadn’t been
offered unconditional support in a long time. Even before the correctional
facility, when he’d been surrounded by his friends and family, he’d always been
so independent that his friends knew better than to offer help that he wouldn’t
accept.He protected his friends from the gangs and the thugs that wanted their
food and medicine, and he guided and supported them through their troubles.
Yusei had always been the level-headed voice of reason and encouragement. When
the time came that he was arrested and he the one who needed help it wasn’t
possible to receive any, so he once again took care of himself.
Despite his sunny and carefree attitude, Judai had proved himself astute and
reliable and Yusei respected him for that. “Thank you, but I’d rather see if I
can take care of it myself.” He conceded, showing his appreciation by admitting
there was a problem.
Judai seemed to have understood that because he grinned brightly. It was both
strange and intimidating to have someone he’d barely met understand him so
easily. He’d be lying if he, someone who always held his thoughts close, said
it didn’t unsettle him a bit. Yusei decided that if he reached the end of his
second week of school and still couldn’t catch up, he would ask his roommate
for advice.
The next day Yusei was met with an… odd sight. He wasn’t sure if there was any
other word to describe his behemoth of a classmate rolling around in a pile of
leaves and garbage like it was money.
“Money! Money! So much money…!”
He didn’t think he needed any more proof that drugs were bad. At the of sight
of the whispering and gossiping students, he wondered if no one was actually
thinking of getting a teacher or something.
The morning got even weirder when he entered the classroom to the sight of the
blonde bully, now bandaged and properly patched up, sitting at Muto’s desk like
it was the most natural thing to do. Judging by the ecstatic look on the
gamer’s face, they must have been getting along.
“Ah, good morning Fudo-san!” Muto greeted while his visitor squinted dark brown
eyes at him.
“Good morning.” Yusei replied to his neighbor while returning the blonde’s
gaze.
“Hey.” The blonde started, lips pursed. “I stopped messing around with Yugi and
I shouldn’t have said that stuff to you, so.” He said, looking a bit awkward
and out of place. Yusei supposed this must be his way of apologizing and making
amends, since he was probably too proud to say it straight out.
He inclined his head in acknowledgement, and the former bully looked relieved
that it was over and done with so seamlessly. Muto beamed, happy to see
everyone getting along even after such a rough first meeting. “Fudo-kun…” Muto
apprehensively started whatever he was going to say with a more familiar
honorific, probably worried Yusei might be offended. Truth be told, he didn’t
care at all what other people addressed him with. He himself was only the
picture of politeness because he was raised to speak softly and carry a big
stick.
“I’m fine with anything.” He answered, and Muto was visibly pleased by the
permission to start addressing him with more familiarity.
“Fudo-kun,” He said, a little more exuberantly, “This is Jonouchi Katsuya-kun.
Jonouchi-kun, this is Fudo Yusei-kun.”
So that was his name. “Please treat me well.” He said, as polite introduction.
“Yeah, same.” Jonouchi said, with a casualness that reached levels of rude
according to City etiquette. Satellite, while it was by no means uncivilized,
definitely lacked the excessive sense of formality and propriety that plagued
the city’s every social interaction. In Satellite, Yusei was considered an
oddball for his excessive politeness, whereas he was considered to be rude
within Domino at times when he didn’t know the proper way of doing or saying
something. Jonouchi’s casual attitude would fit in well with his home.
The pair settled into what would be a quickly established routine of the three
and occasionally Masaki gathering around Muto’s desk, chattering while Yusei
quietly observed and pitched a comment or two while they waited for the first
bell.
Chapter End Notes
     So that was chapter two! To be truthful, I've had the first three
     chapters written up for about half a year now. (=w= ;;; )
     The warm reception of chapter one encourages me to continue this fic.
     Don't expect chapter three to be up as quick as this one though. I
     really don't want to post it until chapter four is done. Basically, I
     want to be one chapter ahead of every post in case I get busy and
     can't write.
***** Spoiled *****
Chapter Summary
     Our favorite asshole appears.
Chapter Notes
     Well, this is way later than I thought it'd be. In preparing for the
     upcoming spring break, school had decided to shat on us with
     unnecessary work. For the sake of continuity, all Yu-Gi-Oh characters
     of the first series will appear as their post season 0 designs. So no
     red-eyed Anzu or green-haired Kaiba here folks.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
The next couple of days passed relatively peacefully, with their little group
getting along unexpectedly well. Mazaki, who was a little bossy but was hard-
working and looked out for everyone, Jonouchi, who was crass and impulsive but
undeniably loyal, and Muto, who was trusting and naive but was one of the
kindest people he'd ever met.
And today...
"Yugi, some new cards came in today!" He heard from the door as he followed his
new friends into Muto's home, which was also a game shop.
"That's great, Jii-chan! I brought some friends."

"Oh?" Muto's grandfather was a kindly-looking old man and was on the shorter
side for his age, much like his grandson. However, unlike Muto's wiry frame,
Muto-ojiisan had a stocky and broad build with strong shoulders and hands. It
reminded him a bit of the stouter characters in Satellite; Yusei wondered if he
worked with his hands much when he was younger. Muto-ojiisan's round purple
eyes took in the group of teens, wandering from face to face before they
stopped on Yusei in the back.

"And who are your new friends, Yugi?" Muto-ojiisan asked, his throaty voice
still light and kindly despite his unreadable eyes never leaving Yusei. He
found himself regretting come here; all his presence would do today is upset
Muto and his grandfather.
Muto paused for a very brief moment, but continued before it became too
noticeable. However, from the corner of his vision, Yusei could see their
entire group of friends glancing between him and Muto-ojiisan. "Jii-chan, this
is Jonouchi Katsuya-kun and Fudo Yusei-kun."
"Please treat me well."
"Nice to meet ya."
"Ho?" The elder hummed, stroking his gray beard in thought as his eyes
scrutinized Yusei. Then, just as Yusei figured Jonouchi was going to say
something confrontational, the old man's visage changed completely. "Well then,
welcome to my shop you two!" He chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound in the back of
his throat, and Muto grew an ecstatic look on his face at what seemed to be his
grandfather's approval. "I'm Muto Sugoroku, pleased to meet you. Good to see
you again, Anzu-chan." He winked at Mazaki, who grunted back
uncharacteristically rudely.
The old man took it in stride, like it was something of a routine, and Yusei
figured there must have been a story behind that. Frankly, he was surprised
Muto's grandfather would be so amicable with him; acceptance was typically a
fantasy in Domino City for someone like him.

"What kind of cards came in Jii-chan?"
"Oh! Come to the counter and I'll show you!" With a vigor and energy that
belied his age, he scuttled behind the counter and hauled a cardboard box onto
the counter. He chuckled his deep and throaty laugh. "This card game is
especially popular in America! It's called Duel Monsters!" He brandished two
familiar cards and Yusei's heart stuttered just at the sight of his favorite
game. The game had caught on well in Satellite, for those who could scrounge
enough cards from the garbage tossed out by the city, but he had hardly seen so
much as a card in Domino City.

"Right now it's still a bit niche, but there are already television tournaments
and even some Japanese champions. I get the feeling it will catch on here in
Japan within the year." He explained proudly, handing out cards to his curious
classmates. "Yusei-kun, wouldn't you like to see one too?" He invited with a
kindly crease in his eye, once he noticed Yusei lingering in the back.

Taken aback by the open welcome, he mutely took one to look at. As expected, it
was a card he's never seen before and he privately relished the happiness
seeing new cards always gave him. "Oh, thank you." He said belatedly and with a
quietness commonly attached to his words. The elder seemed amused by something
and turned his attention back to their group as a whole.
"Each card has a picture and various descriptions that read how the card works.
There are thousands of different cards, each with their own strengths and
weaknesses." He explained.

Mazaki held two gingerly. "The illustrations are amazingly detailed- but some
of them look kind of grotesque..." She grimaced a little at a particularly
violent-looking card with a screaming woman.
"How do you play with them?" Jonouchi asked curiously, quickly rifling through
them and glancing at two or three at once. He was an energetic kind of guy,
always doing things at a fast, reckless pace.
Yusei couldn't really let that slide. "Be more careful with them." He
admonished softly.

"Er- right. Sorry gramps." He sheepishly slowed down his rummaging and
apologized to the owner.
Muto started to explain the rules, well, just the basics of attacking and
defending with monsters. There was a lot more to Duel Monsters than that. Yusei
couldn't ever resist talking about his favorite game whenever the topic came
up. "There are also spell and trap cards for more complex strategies." He
added.
"Oh, do you play too Fudo-kun?" Muto asked, round eyes delighted.
"Yeah."
Muto's grandfather seemed pleased by their genuine interest and added more
information. "Since there are so many different cards, some are rarer than
others. There are cards so rare they're worth more than a house!"

Jonouchi seemed especially baffled by this. "No way! Just for one little card?"
"Actually, Jii-chan has a pretty rare one right here in the shop." Muto said
with a big and knowing smile. "Can you show them?"

The old man snickered with obvious pride, looking mischievously gleeful to show
off. Well, Yusei couldn't deny anyone the right to be proud of their cards.
"Well, since you asked. I suppose I could." He took out a small locked box from
underneath the counter and inserted a key that he fished from out of his
pocket. "Here it is, the Blue Eyes White Dragon!" He brandished the beautiful
card proudly.
"Wow, it's so pretty, but it's also kind of solemn-looking too..." Mazaki
leaned in admiringly. Yusei was surprised that he didn't notice, but she was
right. The dragon was beautiful and majestic, but there was also a note of
quiet solemnity and solitude in it's eye. That's the feeling he got anyways.
From the first card he saw, Yusei always had a strange connection to the
monsters in the cards, getting inexplicable, niggling sensations about them
that others didn't. Most of his friends chalked it up to their unexpectedly
spacey friend and his imagination, but Yusei himself never could.
"Hey, let's play some tomorrow you two!" Jonouchi grinned, brought on board and
looking excited to try the game for himself. He and Muto immediately clamored
around the desk to pick out cards to buy, but Yusei didn't want to spend much
money this early in his stay at Domino City. There was a metallic ring from
behind to signal a new customer entering the shop.
"Welcome!" Muto-ojiisan greeted the tall youth dressed in a crisp white suit.
Yusei immediately felt his stomach clench and his teeth rattle at the sight.
His experiences with Godwin taught him to pick up the tells of a practiced
smile and the plastic air of polite interest. Despite the young face, the
smiling newcomer was an uncanny replica of that polished demeanor hiding a
ruthless hound his handler liked to wear. "So this is where you live, Muto-
san?" He said with a thin smile that stretched his face like stiff dough left
to dry out until it was unusable.
Muto, friendly and oblivious as always, didn't notice a thing off with him.
"Oh, you're Kaiba-kun, from my class!" What? Yusei didn't remember a single
face that looked anything like Kaiba's, and he would, when it so starkly
reminded him of the one person he detested the most from this city. He felt a
cold chill and found ice blue eyes staring at him like they were two holes
punched into a serene landscape to reveal the true backdrop, a frosty
wasteland.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The ritzy boy read the mental script he was following and
apologized with sincerity to match. "It's only that I've never... well." He
said, awkwardly touching his face in a mechanical mimicry of genuine fluster.
"This is the first time I've seen such a nice branded."
Before Yusei could say anything in return, Jonouchi cut in irritably. "Don't
call 'im that."
"His name's Fudo Yusei." Mazaki frowned, joining the blonde with gusto. Even
Muto looked disapproving of Kaiba.

"Oh, you're right. I'm truly sorry, I must confess I'm more than a little
sheltered. I can say insensitive things sometimes." Kaiba sensed his misstep
and backtracked with the grace of a true conversationalist, sprinkling
superficial self-deprecation in a pantomime of true humility.

It worked like a charm. His trio of classmates bought it with understanding
looks. "Well, I can't say we weren't the same way, so I can get where you're
coming from." Mazaki admitted with an apologetic look to Yusei, who held up
hand in a forgiving gesture to her.
"Just don't do it again." Jonouchi grunted.
"Of course." Kaiba smiled at Yusei and he felt a cold, biting wind. "We should
introduce each other properly, Fudo-kun. I'm Kaiba Seto."

"Fudo Yusei." He said politely, hiding his distaste with the thought that he
couldn't afford catty feuds. Kaiba hasn't done anything anyone else hasn't done
here, and so long as he doesn't do anything against him or his friends Yusei
can get along just fine. Though, he still couldn't think of any moment in which
he saw Kaiba in his class.
"So you're playing Duel Monsters?" Kaiba seamlessly redirected conversation
away from his blunder and erased the awkward atmosphere with his flawless
composure.
Muto perked up like he tended to do whenever a game was in the discussion.
"Yeah, do you play it too, Kaiba-kun? Hey, maybe we should all play together!"
"Me? With you...?" That seemed to throw Kaiba for a loop and he stared at Muto
like he didn't quite know what he was seeing. Then his face rearranged itself
into it's carefully composed order and the brief pause only lasted for a
second. "Well, wait a second. I don't know if you guys are even good enough to
play against me. Let me see your cards." And just like that, Yusei's opinion
dropped a little lower. It was fine to have confidence, but regardless if Kaiba
was truly that skilled he shouldn't dismiss other players.
Kaiba snorted, and the first crack in his carefully crafted mask of polite
nobility appeared. "Heh, no way. You're a total beginner; you wouldn't even
last a minute against me. I'm the reigning champion from the national Duel
Monsters tournament and I've collected nothing but the strongest cards for
years."
"Strong cards aren't the only technique to winning, nor are they all that
matter in the game." Yusei cut in, his unexpected interjection causing his
friends to look at him in surprise. He wasn't one to argue, so it was
understandable.
The reigning champion sent him a condescending look, "Come back and tell me
that when you've won a championship or two. I won't waste my time on anyone
less." Kaiba smoothly ignored Jonouchi's frothing and Muto's struggle to hold
the blonde back with grace and poise that spoke years of experience with
pissing people off and getting away with it.
Visibly bored with them at this point, the brunette went to the counter to
conduct business. "Hey Ojii-san, you sell and buy cards here, right?" Kaiba
asked, using the polite form of address for Muto-ojiisan, though Yusei could
tell it was mocking.
The elder Muto struck him as sharp enough to notice, but was too patient to let
it or Kaiba's rude behavior bother him. "Yes, of course." He said with a
genteel smile. It was at that moment Kaiba's eyes had wandered to the valuable
card on the counter. For a moment, the brunette went rock still and time seemed
to freeze.

"O-Ojii-san...! How... this card! What's it-? Let me see it!" The youth's
composure suddenly shattered completely and fragments of sentences gracelessly
tumbled out of his previously smooth and charismatic mouth. His attempt to grab
at the card was foiled when a wrinkled hand snatched it off the counter with
surprising speed.
"Well, I suppose you can just look." Muto-ojiisan said with a mischievous
twinkle in his round eyes. He passed it to Kaiba over the counter, who took it
with shaking hands. There was a long and uncomfortable pause in which the youth
in white just bowed his head and stared at it, leaving everyone visibly
wondering as to what he was thinking and leaving Yusei more than a little
worried.
"How much?" Kaiba said, the first thing he said for a solid two minutes.
A throaty laugh and a winkled hand plucked the card out of his hands, much to
Kaiba's visible annoyance. "I'm afraid this one is not for sale."
In response, a disconcertingly determined look hardened his face. "Fine. I'll
trade you this entire briefcase for that single card." The steel briefcase he
had been carrying with him was slammed onto the counter with the force of
purpose and the contents were revealed to be crammed from corner to corner with
cards, some of which Yusei could visibly see were quite nice.
"That's unbelievable!"

"His trunk is stuffed with cards!"
His classmates baulked at the outrageous offer.

A deep throaty laugh. "Nah."
"And he refused him?!"
"That's even more unbelievable!"

They baulked even more at Muto-ojiisan's outrageous refusal.
Kaiba grit his teeth irritably. "Why not?"
The old man smiled, serene and patient. "You seem to want this card a lot,
Kaiba-kun." Yusei noticed the less personal use of Kaiba's last name versus the
first names he addresses Muto's friends with. "But the reason this card isn't
for sale is because it was a gift from a very dear friend of mine in America.
In short, this card is as valuable to me as my dearest old friend. It's a
treasure worth more than any card in the world because of my sentiment for it.
Valuing every last card is the true strength of this game."
Judai, Muto-ojiisan, and Muto the teenager. Yusei believed he had the privilege
of meeting the three most wonderful people in Domino City and he wouldn't hear
a word otherwise. Muto was unbelievably giving and kind, Muto-ojiisan was
unbelievably patient and wise underneath his mischief, and Judai was an
unbelievable mixture of the both. His lips curled into a conservative smile in
approval of Muto-ojiisan's words.

Kaiba, for his part, sucked in a breath through his teeth, producing a sharp,
hissing sound reminiscent of a snake. "Fine. I get it." He stuffed a fist into
his pocket and trudged out the door. The teen struck Yusei as the type to get
irritable when he didn't get his way.
"That was great!" Jonouchi cackled.
Muto beamed admiringly of his grandfather. "Jii-chan doesn't need rare cards to
have fun! Or win!"
The elder Muto chuckled.
They stayed at the shop for another two hours, during which Yusei and Muto
helped Jonouchi pick out cards and took turns drilling both him and Mazaki on
how the game worked. While she didn't seem too interested in playing the game,
she liked hearing about the rules and looking at the illustrations.
 
===============================================================================
 
The next day saw the three of them sitting around a table and playing match
after match. Yusei did his best to hold back and even refrained from synchro
summoning, but he retained an uncontested winning streak against the both of
them, which was strange because he thought for sure Muto would be a hard
opponent. That being said, Muto himself had an unrelenting winning streak
against Jonouchi.

"Crap! I lost again!" Yusei had to give the blonde credit for his sheer
tenacity, a losing streak to two friends would usually deter anyone from a
game, but Jonouchi persistently challenged them for match after match. He was
getting the hang of the rules and the jargon with every duel, though; Yusei
could visibly see his progress from every match played and every match watched.
Muto got better and better against him at an even more impressive rate.
Their games were attracting attention from their classmates, who crowded behind
Muto and Jonouchi and made a wide berth from his side. The result was an
amusing cluster of kids nudging and elbowing each other instead of just moving
aside because it meant getting closer to him. It used to bother him, but now he
was jaded enough to see the humor in it. Their free period would be ending soon
though.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a familiar chill.
"Yugi-kun." A polite and smooth and familiar voice cut in.
"Oh, Kaiba-kun!" Muto turned away from his blonde friend, who was busy being
heckled by their other classmates for losing so much, and smiled in greeting to
the approaching teen. Kaiba looked ill-fit in their school uniform; he was the
kind of personality that only looked suited in something flashy and expensive.
His face stretched uncomfortably again, in that familiar and uncanny pantomime
of a genuine smile. "Your game was fun to watch." It was fake. It was so
obviously fake.
And Muto lapped it up with a sweet and delighted smile.
"But... if you don't mind me asking, could I please see that dragon card again?
Do you have it?"
Yusei wasn't one to boss his friends around, but just as he was about to warn
his friend to be careful another voice cut into the general din of their
classroom. "Fudo-kun, could you please come to the front?" Their teacher called
from across the room and with the worst timing possible.
"Listen, Muto-san-"

"The teacher called you, Yusei-kun." Kaiba smiled with slitted eyes and too
much teeth and all the comfort and warmth of an arctic storm. The friendly
address felt like pinpricks of frost crawling on his back, a weapon of
discomfort and insult with it's proximity.
 "Go ahead Fudo-kun." The small gamer smiled at Yusei too, but it was nothing
like Kaiba's cold and robotic mockery of human expression.
His hands were tied; he didn't want to make a scene. "Be careful." He said and
got up like he was leaving his friend to a proverbial den of lions. He didn't
trust the cold-eyed teen's intentions.

The rest of the class had gone mostly quiet, save for the hushed whispering.
Their teacher held the door into the hallway for some privacy. There was a
slight pause as she seemed to be deciding what to say with a deliberating look.
"Fudo-kun," She started, brown- no, honey eyes boring into him with a
candidness he never recalled her possessing. "It's come to my concern that you
might be struggling in my class."
Yusei was glad she jumped straight to the point. "I am." He said, not bothering
to beat around the bush.
She seemed surprised at this. "Well, this is only the first week of class so I
won't dally on the subject more than to warn you that if you're struggling this
early in, than I advise getting a tutor or some help as soon as possible. Allow
yourself to fall behind and it'll be a nightmare to catch back up, especially
the way you are now, and the longer you wait the harder it'll get."
"Yes, thank you." He said politely, taking her advice seriously. Strangely, he
remembered her being much more nervous during his first day, but maybe she was
just getting used to him. He hoped his classmates would follow. When she
continued to look at him expectantly, he felt himself foraging around for
something he might have forgotten.
The silence stretched to uncomfortable lengths and beyond. "...Do you even know
my name?" The teacher asked like she couldn't believe it was even a
possibility.

He had the grace to look abashed. "No." And then a beat later, "I apologize."
The name of his teacher might have been mentioned by that first receptionist or
even on his schedule paper, but he was pretty distracted that first day with
the constant barrage of foreign sights. Plus, she was so different that day
that she hardly left an impression on his memory.
An exasperated sigh. "It's Tenjoin. Please remember this time." It was kind of
impressive how frank and direct Tenjoin-sensei was, considering how tiny she
was. She even had to crane her neck a little to look him in the eye, which she
didn't hesitate to do anymore. Yusei liked forthright people.
"I will." He said and meant it.
She considered him for a moment and seemed to accept his words as honesty.
"Good. I'm expecting much from you. You can go back now." That was a first,
most of the other teachers contented themselves to keep a broad berth and
unconcern themselves with him.
His fingertips had just brushed the handle of the classroom door when she spoke
up again. "Fudo-kun." He turned back to her face, which looked oddly hesitant
just when he was starting to grow used to her new blunt personality. "...Be
careful around Kaiba-kun." And she was gone in a swish of gray and navy fabric,
black heels clicking down the hall.
He had already had his suspicions about Kaiba, and Tenjoin-sensei's warning
only confirmed their validity. Once inside the classroom, which immediately
hushed at his entry, he sat back down with his friends.

"Hey man." Jonouchi greeted carelessly and Yusei nodded in response. Kaiba was
gone, back in his seat at the back of the class and looking worryingly pleased
with himself underneath his air of regal stoicism. More importantly, Muto's
face had a discomfited look.
"Is something the matter, Muto-san?"
"O-oh, no! I'm sorry Fudo-kun! I was just spacing out!" The smaller teen
laughed nervously, much to his suspicion.
"Eh? Something's wrong?" The blonde at their table cut in.
"No, no! Nothing's wrong!"
"Are you sure?" Yusei prodded.
"Yes, Fudo-kun." Muto continued to insist that he was fine, despite their
attempts to coax anything out of him. He was surprisingly stubborn at times and
Yusei knew from past experience that once Muto clammed up you couldn't get a
peep out of him. Class sped forward through the day and, to his deepening
concern, Muto would not be walking home with him today. The gamer claimed he
wanted stay with a teacher to talk about something. Yusei had offered to wait
for him, but Jonouchi, casual an unsuspecting, accepted the story and pushed
the two along.
And thus a restless Yusei trying and failing to relax and concentrate on his
work. Judai and their cat watched him bemusedly from the floor, their lack of
furniture leaving them without a proper table or couch. Cat and human sat on
the floor at their coffee table, using spare cushions from the storage closet
as padding for the hard floor. "Yusei, you've been acting weird since you got
home. What's eating at you?" His roommate had put up with it for quite a while
before he said anything about it, talking over the short stretch between the
living room and the kitchen.
Yusei had grown as accustomed to being read so easily as he could by now, but
this would be difficult to explain. "Nothing much. Just a bad feeling." Judai
had cooked tonight, something simple and clumsily made, and Yusei was grateful
for the menial chore of the clean-up to distract himself with.
"A gut feeling?"
"I guess." He preferred to think about things logically, but he generally
trusted his instincts when they were screaming this loudly at him. "There's not
much I can do now though."
Yusei could hear the click and fizzle of the brunette popping open a can of
beer; he generally had one a night. "Well, then that's that right?" He said
cheerfully, taking a deep swig as the younger male made a questioning noise.
"Well, like you said. There's nothing you can do, so there's no point in
worrying now." He explained. "It'd be more productive to think about what you
can do tomorrow if something did happen."
The fact that he didn't bother telling Yusei not to worry at all was telling
how well Judai knew him. It was helpful to have his thoughts cleared. "Thank
you, Judai-san."
"Sure, no proble-"

Knock knock.
Someone was at the door? Yusei cast a look at the kitchen wall clock, who's
hands read eight o'clock. It was kind of late for a visit from just about
anyone he knew. Maybe it was a friend of Judai's?

"Crap!" His roommate suddenly hissed. "Dude, we have to hide Pharaoh!"

"What?"
"The cat! Landlady! At the door!"
"What?"

There was a mad scrabble and whirlwind of movement as Judai ushered their
illegal tenant into his room and Yusei hid away their meager cat-related
objects. All the while the doorbell rang at timely intervals and in the back of
his mind he wondered what kind of name was "Pharaoh"
"Alright, we're good, I think." Judai said with a big sigh and flopped back
down at their makeshift table. The mechanic was closer to the door so it was
unspoken that he be the one to open it.
Hoping that Pharaoh would stay quiet, he gripped the handle of their front door
and opened it to let their landlady in. He had never met her because Judai
handled all of the arrangements, something Yusei had preferred because she
might not have rented to them if she saw his trackers. At this point their
hefty down payment of three months worth of rent would have proved them to be
reliable tenants, so hopefully she wouldn't see fit to do so now. High heels
clicked and gray and navy fabric swished through the door.
"Fudo-kun?" It was his teacher, except now her blonde hair released from it's
tight bun and left to cascade down her back. She looked as surprised to see him
as he felt to see her.
"...Tenjoin-sensei?" Belatedly, he remembered to shut the door behind her.
"Are you Judai's roommate?" First name basis? What? He nodded bemusedly and
looked back-and-forth between Judai and the blonde woman, hoping for some kind
of explanation.
The brunette only cocked his head. "Eh? You know Yusei, Asuka?"
She spared the older male a curt nod. "I guess I should introduce myself a
little more." She smiled at Yusei, a friendly but crisp gesture. "I'm Tenjoin
Asuka. Judai and I have been friends since we were very small. We currently go
to the same school, but I'm substituting your homeroom teacher as a part-time
job and lease this apartment." Wasn't that essentially two jobs on top of
school?

"I know, right?" Judai snickered, who could somehow read Yusei's emotions
despite the fact that he was surehe didn't move his face this time. "Asuka's a
total badass."
"Enough of that." She said with a glitter in her eye and obviously suppressing
a larger smile. "I only stopped by to check on you. To see how you moved in and
if you were getting along with your roommate." Honey eyes glanced dryly at
their sparse surroundings. "But I see I should have waited another week. Where
are your furniture?" She asked with a tone that reminded him eerily of the
matron that ran Yusei's orphanage. Asuka was likely asking a hypothetical
question because she already knew the answer and didn't like it.
Judai laughed nervously. "Ah-ha. Well..."
"Yes?"

"Er- I might have forgotten to- well. I forgot to ask Yusei... if he had
furniture too?" Judai had an exaggerated way of clumsily dancing around the
topic if he knew it was going to get him into trouble. He was probably a
horrible liar.
She just sighed tiredly. "I knew it. I knewyou would forget to ask him first. I
should have checked on that first before I let you handle your furniture-"
Judai cut in before she could develop into an exasperated tirade. "Asuka,
Asuka, relax. We got this under control. Besides, I had a bunch of old crap I
didn't need anyways."
Another sigh. It was becoming a common expression from his teacher. "Well, I
know a good place. I'll send you the details later. Don't dally around fixing
this place up. If you don't do it now you'll never get it done. And a good kid
like Yusei deserves a nice place while he's in school." It would seem his
roommate had saved himself from a reaming, but Yusei had mixed feelings about
being treated like a kid. On one hand, it was insulting after everything he'd
been through, but on the other it was very kind of Tenjoin-sensei to say that.
Yusei was pretty sure that was the first remotely nice thing he had heard any
of his teachers say.
"I'm fine with it." He said, surprising the two. Like any old pair of friends
that got to talking, they got wrapped up in their own little world and probably
didn't notice he had hardly said a word since she walked in.

"Be that as it may, Judai has a responsibility to you." What were they,
married? "Look you two, I'm busy right now-"

"You're alwaysbusy-"
"-and I have to get going. Keep an eye on your inbox, Judai, and remember what
I said earlier!" She ignored Judai's picking like it was her true profession
and fussed at him to get things done like she was his mother.
"I hear you. Take care!" He called.

She was already out the door and had poked her head back inside. "Remember it!"
She closed the door to Judai's laughter. There was a stretch of silence.
"Judai-san?"
"Yeah?"

"She wouldn't really kick us out, would she? Over Pharaoh?" Yusei phrased that
more like a statement because he already knew the answer.

"Ha! Definitely not. I just don't wanna get chewed out." It would seem Judai
was a little less reckless than he thought. Tenjoin-sensei was a good friend to
him.
===============================================================================
 
The next day proved his worries mostly unfounded, as Muto arrived to class just
fine and in one piece. That being said, there was an oddly sad look about him
and Kaiba was absent from class. "Are you alright?" He asked his downtrodden
friend.
"Yeah, I think so." He said, staring at the grooves into his desk. "Kaiba-kun
and I got into a fight." He admitted in a rare display of openness.
"Is that so? Just words?" Yusei probably couldn't domuch against someone so
rich and powerful, but the least he could do is take him down a peg or two by
beating him at his own game. He was the kind of prideful person who couldn't
stand losing.
Muto sighed, contrasting Tenjoin-sensei's tired one by sounding sad. "Yeah,
just words. It's sad to fight with friends though." There was a little shift to
his eyes, to the side, and Yusei immediately suspected there might have been
more than words. He couldn't see any injuries on his friend and he would be in
a much bigger panic if Kaiba did anything else, so Yusei didn't press the
matter any further.
"It is." He agreed, despite the fact that Kaiba was anything but a friend.
Chapter End Notes
     Remember when I said I wanted to be a chapter ahead just in case I
     couldn't write? Just for future reference, my personal time limit is
     four weeks, or one month, to complete the second-to-next chapter
     before I go ahead and post the upcoming chapter regardless of whether
     or not the second-to-next chapter is completed. Basically, if 3 is
     done but it's taking me a month to get 4 done I'll go ahead and post
     3 regardless if 4 is done.
     But since chapter 3 is up, you guys should know that means chapter 4
     is done ;D
     Sorry for the short length of this chapter, but it's a necessary
     bridge between chapters 2 and 4.
***** The King's Seat *****
Chapter Summary
     Goddammit whai do this pair have to be such cuties?
Chapter Notes
     There really isn't much going on in this chapter besides FLUFFY
     DORKS.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
It was the last day of his first week of school and Yusei certainly hadn’t
caught up to the material in the slightest, going by the fact that he was so
far behind in some of his classes he couldn’t even understand what the teachers
were saying anymore. He was still keeping pace with his math class and kept up
with history lessons thanks to the auditory lectures, but his lack of reading
comprehension made it impossible to do word problems and do any assigned
reading. His language and writing classes were abysmal.
Despite his struggling, there was some good news. Both he and Judai had
acquired more money through their stipends. Yusei received a rather hefty sum,
going by the way Judai's eyes bugged out at the sight of his check- mere pocket
change coming from Godwin. Though he loathed receiving charity from Godwin, he
couldn’t balance the conditions of their deal on top of a job. He barely
comprehended how Tenjoin-sensei balanced two jobs on top of school and
respected her for her hard work. According to Judai, he and other lower-class
scholarship students from outside the region were given stipends to help them
live if they had especially good marks. Unfortunately, the money was only
enough to rent a half-decent place at the hefty cost of being unable to afford
to anything else, like eating. Yusei didn’t know how he kept forgetting his
roommate was some sort of incredible science genius.
With their new money, Judai had declared he and Yusei were going shopping for
new furniture over the latter’s protests that he’d be fine with anything. They
were going to go as soon as Yusei got home, but from Mazaki’s announcement it
looked like he might be held over.
“Now then! Let’s decide our class’ attraction for this year’s festival!” She
declared. “Raise your hand if you have an idea.”
Soon ideas were being tossed and pitched around, with Mazaki writing promising
ideas on the chalkboard. Yusei knew, academically, that festivals were for
celebrations but besides slightly nicer New Years rations the concept meant
nothing to a Satellite. He didn’t know what you did at a festival or what it
was supposed to look like, so he stayed quiet.
“…therefore, “sex appeal” will decide the winner! I call my idea the “Real
High-school Girl Cabaret”-!“
What.
“…all the customers get to pick a girl and a costume-!“
“Get out Jonouchi!”
“Go die!”
The poor fool had the nerve to look surprised that their female classmates were
throwing their pencils and books at his lecherous head.
“Do you have ideas, Fudo-kun?” Muto said through his giggles.
“No. You?”
“Well… m-maybe one.” The gamer demurred, obviously still sitting on it out of
anxiety issues.
“You should suggest it. It can’t be worse than Jonouchi-san’s.” He said, and
the rare flash of his hidden and dry humor seemed to be the right encouragement
for Muto, who snickered and glanced at his pouting friend.
“U-Um… Anzu?” He raised his hand when Mazaki made a last call for more ideas.
“Oh, got something Yugi?”
“Eh… y-yeah, I do,” He said, reddening and focusing on his friend to avoid the
curious eyes of his classmates. “A homemade carnival game! Like… like in
amusement parks!” He said, eyes shining with the idea.
The words meant nothing to him, but the rapidly growing murmurs of his
classmates definitely indicated it meant something for them. The whispers as
they mulled the idea over eventually grew into excited cheers as Muto’s
suggestion slowly won them over.
“Good…”
“Yeah…”
“A game might be good…”
“Yeah, it’d be fun!”
“Awright! A carnival game it is!” Jonouchi leapt from his chair, endearingly
eager to declare his friend’s idea as the winner.
“Okay, then we’ll all build a carnival game!” Mazaki announced with a slight
note of pride in her friend. “Next, what game should we build?
Another round of ideas chorused through the class for basketball games, target
practice, and some kind of bottle game and Yusei could see a dreamy look on
Muto’s face out of the corner of his eye. He was happy for him too.
They decided on some kind of barrel game called “Human Bluebeard in Danger”
that Yusei didn’t understand how to play, but it involved a person squishing
inside, sticking swords into the sides, and a springboard to launch that person
out. It was a play on some kind of toy that already existed, but it sounded
kind of sadistic… The kids of Satellite played hide-and-seek and tag and with
toys their parents made for them from scraps and elbow grease. Sometimes they
played Duel Monsters, but that could take months of scrounging around for
enough undamaged cards to make a functional deck.
Yusei was more than happy to utilize his skills to contribute to Muto’s game-
at the very least it saved him from working on the outside with the kids. While
Jonouchi prepared the wooden barrel and Muto crafted the mask out of newspaper,
glue, and paint, Yusei had charged himself with the delicate mechanics like the
springboard, buttons, and levers required to launch their pirate.
“Hey you two, almost done here!”
“Wow, that’s great!” Muto enthused, and Yusei managed to tear himself away from
his work long enough to confirm the statement. The wood was cut evenly and
sandpapered to a smooth, glossy finish. Jonouchi had done a masterful job.
“Jounouchi, you’re really good with your hands!”
“Everyone’s gotta have some talent or other.” Mazaki teased.
Jounouchi chuckled proudly. “I’ve been putting together all kinds of model kits
in my garage since I was a kid! Look!” He hopped inside to demonstrate the
perfect size of the barrel for the average high school teenager.
Yusei glanced back his work and figured he’d have to try and fit it in to see
how it worked. “You might have to get out.” He started. “I need to fit these
inside and test them.” They worked fine when he tested the sensitivity on the
table, but how would they work set up in the barrel?
Muto was instantly at his side, peering around to his simple setup. “Wow! It
looks great Fudo-kun!”
“It is. I had no idea you were that good at mechanical things!” Mazaki
exclaimed, sounding surprised. She had looked understandably apprehensive when
he suggested she could save money by buying cheaper parts and letting him
assemble something more efficient than buying something expensive and factory-
assembled that couldn’t do the job as well as something homemade. That was the
whole point of this project anyways, wasn’t it? But she took a chance on him
and by the look on her face she didn’t regret it.
Jonouchi, having left his barrel, took a look on the other side of his
shoulder. He whistled. “No way I could put together something like that. Not
without instructions, anyway.”
“It’s not anything great…” He instantly backtracked in the face of shining
praise and compliments. The collective looks of amusement meant they were
definitely catching on to his habit of shying away from praise. But a simple
toy like this was literally child’s play in Satellite. Kid’s tinkered with the
junk and spare parts Domino citizens cast aside all the time. No one had quite
reached building a motorcycle from a scrap heap, but Yusei had always insisted
that they could if they set their minds to it.
He ignored his friends’ snickering and set about inserting his devices with a
pointed concentration.
Jonouchi snickered devilishly. “I wonder who’ll be playing Bluebeard…. I’m
gonna laugh my ass off!”
“Why, you of course! As you demonstrated, you’re the perfect size!” Anzu said
with a sickeningly innocent voice.
“What?!”
“I even made the mask to fit your size, since Fudo-kun was behind me and you
were in clear view for a model!”
“D-Don’t joke arou-!”
"Anyways," Muto raised his voice over the din with a giggle. "We're going to
visit a museum after this, Fudo-kun. Want to come?"
Before Yusei could think of a response, a new, timid voice cut into their
workspace. “Excuse me?” He didn't recognize the girl that walked in and
instantly halfway tuned out the conversation, since she probably wasn't here
for him. He was almost done fixing up the springboard anyways.
“What is it?” Mazaki asked.
There! He leaned over the side and pressed a sword into the button he built to
connect to the spring mechanic, satisfied with the sight of the springboard
launching taught and perky.
“W-well… there’s a guy here to see F-Fudo-san.”
Huh? He looked up from his work at the sound of his name to the timid girl that
refused to meet his eyes. “Did he say who he was?” He asked cautiously. It was
likely Godwin, who had thinly-veiled a threat to follow him more closely if he
stepped out of line the last time they had spoken. That was the day he demanded
to live in an apartment of his own choosing.
“N-no. He was-” She stuttered, face reddening. Was he still that scary?
He supposed he would have to get up and see for himself. Yusei passed the girl,
who cringed slightly at their proximity. To his amusement, he could see Mazaki
and Jonouchi give her the stink eye from the corner of his eye as the trio
followed him out. While the cringing did annoy him a little on the first day,
he had let it go by this point, where the constant whispering had died down for
fresher, juicier gossip. He ignored his classmates, and they in turn ignored
him when he was a safe distance away, tucked neatly from their minds. He was
fine with it that way.
“You don’t have to come, you know.” He offered the trio, privately having a
mixed feeling of apprehension and appreciation.
“Of course we do!” Jonouchi insisted as the others nodded their agreement. “You
didn’t look exactly thrilled, Yusei. Is some guy bothering you?” He said, tone
dropping to convey his displeasure.
Yusei couldn’t deny that a part of him was far from ecstatic at the idea of
being alone with Rex Godwin again, nor could he deny that their open concern
touched him a little. But on the other hand he didn’t want to expose them to
Godwin’s scrutiny. Well, further than what they were probably already under.
His protective instincts won over.
“Actually… what I mean is, please wait here.” He said, unintentionally using
the firm tone normally reserved for Rally. “It’s probably my parole officer.”
That wasn't entirely correct, but it was the simplest term to describe what
Godwin was to him, besides arch-enemy.
They looked anything but reassured. “Fudo-kun, you’re not in trouble, are you?”
Muto asked worriedly.
“H-he didn’t look like an officer…” The girl murmured, red-faced.
His lips thinned. “He wouldn’t.” Pressed suit, trim nails, shiny shoes- in all
his three times of seeing the man, Godwin never looked anything less than
perfectly immaculate. “I’d appreciate if you all would give us privacy.”
Mazaki huffed and looked ready to argue and Muto was visibly preparing to
insist, but Jonouchi’s firm hands on their shoulders gave them pause. “Just let
him go. Yusei’s probably got stuff he wants to keep private.” The blonde’s eyes
radiated a sense of understanding, almost camaraderie. Yusei could guess from
the kid’s rough and tumble attitude that he might have a rougher life than most
people would imagine.
It was enough to give the other two pause, and Yusei nodded his thanks. He
pushed aside the strips of cloth acting as their door and found his classmates
to be collectively staring in the same direction. He followed their gaze to-
…to his roommate surrounded by a flock of students and looking supremely
confused. “Judai-san?” He asked, bewildered, ignoring the fascinated onlookers
and rekindled gossiping as he privately tried to remember if he had ever
lucidly dreamed.
The brunette’s head spun in his direction so fast he was worried the college
student would snap his own neck. “Yusei this is amazing!”  Judai cheered
through the quickly clearing throng of females.
“Yeah…” He said slowly, still trying to catch up to the fact that his roommate
was here in his school and not Godwin. “What are you doing here, Judai-san?”
Brown eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s right! I’m here because we agreed to meet up
after you got out of school, but it was an hour late and I was worried
something happened. It’s not like you to be late.”
“You didn’t try calling my cell phone?” He asked with a stab of guilt. He
should have called Judai, but he was so swept up in the novelty of a festival
that he forgot. It was unbelievably irresponsible and careless for him.
“I did, but it went directly to voice-mail so I couldn’t get a hold of you.”
That's right, he always turns it off during school and tucks it away to avoid
trouble. “I’m sorry to have troubled you.” He glanced behind to their work. He
had already scheduled something important with Judai, but this project was an
academic commitment.
Judai seemed to have sensed his indecision. “Don’t worry about it! We can
always reschedule. I only insisted on today because Asuka's recommendation was
great as usual; they’re having a good sale.”
His roommate was kindly trying to write it off, but the admission only made it
worse. They had a shared budget and any kind of sale at all would be ideal.
Yusei frowned.
“Er-“ A classmate started, and she squeaked when the pair looked at her. “I-I’m
sure Mazaki-san won’t mind. Try talking with her…?” She suggested, red-faced
and eyes locked onto Juda-
Wait.
A cursory glance to his surroundings revealed an oddly unbalanced ratio of
female to male onlookers. A large female chunk of not just his class, but the
other nearby ones as well, were gazing at Judai with admiring eyes and red
cheeks. Yusei knew on an academic level that his roommate was aesthetically
attractive; the brunette had the warm and natural magnetism of a child behind
the visage of a handsome, boyish face. To have this confirmed by the same
classmates that avoided him like a plague, and for his roommate to not even
seem to notice his popularity, was actually a little funny. “It wouldn’t be
right to leave…” He said reluctantly. But if they were buying furniture, they
really needed to shop during some kind of sale.
“I-I’ll go get Mazaki-san!” The girl said, probably eager to please and help
Judai.
“You don’t have to-“ The girl had already disappeared into the tent.
“Nice classmates you got.” His roommate hummed, completely clueless. Yusei
decided that if he couldn’t figure it out himself, then there probably wouldn’t
be much point explaining that much of the nearby female student body was
drooling over him.
It was barely a moment before his friends clambered out of the tent. “So,
what’s going on here?” She asked pleasantly and Yusei instantly recognized the
tone as dangerously sweet. Mazaki still thought Judai was her parole officer
and was acting accordingly hostile to him. Behind her, while Jonouchi’s harsh
glare looked openly virulent, Muto’s expression looked… strange. His brows were
pinched like he was viewing an abstract painting and wasn’t sure what he was
seeing. After the mechanic built up the image of an uncompromising and
authoritarian officer, the easygoing and cheerful Judai was bound to be off-
putting.
Too bad Judai wasn’t one to pick up on their hostility. A sledgehammer to the
face might be a slightly better option. Yusei is almost certain the brunette
picks up on the atmosphere just fine and then purposely choses to ignore it.
“Well, Yusei and I had scheduled to go shopping for new furniture, but he was
an hour late so I came to see if he was all right.”
“O-oh.” They looked downright uncomprehending at this point. “And you are…
Yusei’s parole officer…?” Mazaki asked and Yusei could just see his roommate
laughing-
Judai’s loud and full laughter filled Yusei’s ears, confirming his prediction.
“O-Oh wow! Is that what he’s been telling you?”
“I thought you were someone else.” He said hurriedly before the other could
have too much fun with this.
“That’s obvious!”
“Er-“ Mazaki started.
Judai was catching his breath, so it was up to the mechanic to introduce him.
“This is my roommate, Yuki Judai-san.”
“Roommate?” Jonouchi asked, surprised.
“That’s me!” Judai grinned. “There was a little accident with the furniture
when I moved in. Yusei and I were going to go shopping for more today since
there's a store with a good sale. Dirt poor college student an’ all.”
“Oh, you’re a college student?” Misaki asked, surprised. He didn’t blame her;
Judai looks a bit younger than his twenty years.
The brunette made a sound of confirmation. “Mm-hm! I go to NDU.”
A bomb going off wouldn’t have surprised Yusei more than the collective shout
of “NDU?!” Just about everybody in the general vicinity screamed and frantic
whispering spread like a wildfire. His roommate looked vaguely uncomfortable,
but Yusei imagined he himself just looked confused.
“Mazaki-san?” He asked for clarification. “Why is everyone shouting?”
She looked surprised at the question. “You mean you don’t know? Neo Domino
University is the top school in the country and one of the top five schools in
the entire world. You’d have to be filthy rich or smart enough for a
scholarship to get in, and it's notoriously hard.”
It seemed Judai just existed to impress. The knowledge that he was living with
one of the smartest men in the country was humbling. “Congratulations.” He told
his roommate, noting his discomfort with amusement. “But why do they call it
“Neo Domino University”?”
“The first Domino University got blown up.” Mazaki answered.
“No way! It was an earthquake, remember?” Jonouchi argued. “The whole thing was
demolished in that super-earthquake a few years ago.”
Yusei furrowed his brow- he didn’t remember any sort of earthquake. He vaguely
remembered some sort of disaster occasionally mentioned and discussed when he
was younger, though that was such a long time ago that he had forgotten what
the disaster was by now. He tried to reach into the recesses of his mind for
knowledge long forgotten, but it was like trying to grasp a spring breeze.
“Wasn’t it both?” Judai supplied with a faraway look on his face. “The school
was destroyed by an explosion triggered by a powerful earthquake. The magnitude
was high enough to damage the heating system and the electrical equipment in
the mechanical engineering and biology classes. Multiple fires broke out from
the electrical damages and caused an explosion when unfiltered gasses from the
damaged heating system were released and made contact. The school was leveled
to the ground.”
“Actually, I think that sounds right.” Mazaki laughed. “How did I manage to
forget that?”
“Oh yeah!” said Jonouchi. “Guess the NDU student would know all of that.”
“Wh-what are you studying there, Yuki-san?” A small voice inquired. It was
Muto, he had been rather quiet.
Judai turned to Muto, and it was now that Yusei noticed it was the first time
the brunette looked directly at his short classmate. “Just ‘Judai’ is fine.” He
smiled, though it wasn’t as goofy and energetic as the ones Yusei was used to
receiving. Muto flushed, a product of his shyness, but looked pleased. “Besides
the general required courses, I’m taking a lot of science classes. You know,
stuff like theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, and astronomy.”
Yusei, who had already had his turn to be surprised, got to enjoy the sight of
his classmates’ jaws dropping. The small crowd and eavesdroppers exploded into
conversation.
“Did you hear that?”
“He said he’s “dirt poor”; I wonder if he got in through scholarship?”
“Wow, nice, handsome, and smart!”
You’d have to be deaf not to make out the things they were saying, but Judai
acted as if he couldn’t hear a word. He might have not been paying attention,
or maybe he just didn’t care, because Judai didn’t even so much as twitch.
“W-wow…” Mazaki said, looking a little breathless. “So you came here to take
Fudo-kun shopping?” She prompted, taking the conversation back to it’s original
purpose.
If Judai seemed a little relieved, Yusei figured it was because he was worried
about getting their furniture. That, or, in an amusingly ironic way, he was
just as shy about praise as Yusei was. “Yeah! Like I said earlier, I was hoping
to take Yusei with me to a sale. It’s his apartment too, so he deserves some
input.”
“Well, I don’t see why not.” What? But wasn’t this a project? He couldn’t
really leave all the work to his classmates to take off shopping. “Fudo-kun,
it’d be fine. The most important bulk of the work, the actual game, is done
thanks to you and the other two.” She assured, as if sensing his thoughts.
A well-manicured nail gestured to the front of their attraction, a basic but
sleek structure of wood to make a counter. The actual game was inside their
tent, but the flaps would be propped wide open to make the inside brighter once
they finished constructing; a counter was required to act as some kind of
front. The actual wooden construction was finished, and the classmates
bothering to pretend to work in the face of their interesting newcomer were
painting the stall with dry brushes that they forgot to dip back into the
buckets of bright paint. “All that’s left is painting the stall and the clean-
up. You’ve done your share, so why don’t you go with Judai? This sounds
important anyways.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yeah, go ahead man.” Jonouchi said carelessly.
Muto smiled. “Fudo-kun, we can handle it from here. Thanks for your help!”

He nodded gratefully, “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Nice to meet all of you!” Judai waved goodbye as the pair left.

It was only when they had walked a block and Judai showed no indication of
stopping that Yusei asked where his car was. “Oh, I don’t have a license.” His
roommate said cheerfully.

“So you walk everywhere?”

“That’s right!”
Fair enough. They lived close by to the grocery markets and the schools
anyways; driving would be a waste of fuel. Yusei only drove his bike the first
day of school because he wanted to be absolutely sure he would make it on time.
He got his route from a map, but on the chance he took a wrong turn, it would
be better to make a wrong turn on a fast motorcycle instead of slow human legs.
 
The store was very large and, in Yusei’s opinion, gleaming and pristine with
white tile and glossy frosted windows. According to Judai, it was actually an
average place with affordable prices for them. He found himself with a healthy
amount of reservation at the sight of various products and furniture on
display. Lustrous polished wood and tasteful decorations stretched from end to
end of the store, and the automated escalator in the center indicated there was
more upstairs. He was honestly surprised that the store manager hadn't come out
to shoo him away from their store at the first sight of his trackers. Yusei
chalked it up to Tenjoin-sensei's competence and foresight; she probably
thought of that herself when picking out a store. The most he got was the feel
of every clerk and every employee's eyes burning suspiciously into his back,
already flagging him as a potential troublemaker. To be fair, he expected and
has received much worse treatment on a regular basis, so he wasn't at all
bothered by it.

“Downstairs has the bigger stuff- beds, dressers, couches and the like.
Upstairs is where all the nightstands and tables are.” Judai explained
helpfully, probably having taken notice of his slightly bemused expression at
the dizzying array of merchandise. Everything a Satellite owned was salvaged
from the junk heaps and patched up with elbow grease, never mind these vast
marketplaces of beautiful, glossy pieces. Yusei wasn’t even sure how he was
supposed to shop and pick and choose when everything looked nice to him. The
brunette continued when it looked like he wasn’t going to respond. “I figured
we should buy what we need first. A table and some chairs to eat on would be a
good start.” With that, he led the way upstairs.

Upstairs was even worse because this time the merchandise was smaller, things
like hand towels, dishwares, cooking tools, and various little decorations- it
was all packed in a clutter and cluster of bright and shining odds and ends.
Shelves among shelves of various trinkets and an abundance of options that
didn’t seem to end. Judai navigated what Yusei perceived as organized chaos
with striking ease and he followed, making a point not to distract himself with
the assortments of baubles.
“Well, here are the tables.” Judai said, more to himself, as his brown eyes
roving over the various displays. “Is there any particular one that you like?”

He didn’t even know how to answer. All of them would serve their intended
purpose far better than the rickety and unbalanced slabs of steel balanced on
chipped cinderblock that he was used to serving as a meal table. As far as
“style” went, he honestly had no clue about that sort of thing.“Judai-san, I
don’t know- I’m fine with anything.” He said, trying and failing to restrain
the slight note of distress.
The brunette hummed and gave the mechanic a considering look. “You probably
would be. I guess the better question is, ‘Is there any particular one that you
don’t like?’, or maybe, ‘Is there any particular one that you think wouldn’t be
good to buy?’”

“Well, nothing too expensive.” He suggested, more as a tentative question. He
wasn’t sure what Judai wanted from him.

His roommate grinned, and Yusei supposed that meant he was pleased to see him
try. “Well, that’s a start! So, say something below fifty-thousand yen?”

He choked. “At the very least.” That much, just for a table?

“Don’t worry! My goal is something as close to twenty-thousand as possible.”
The way Judai said that, it sounded like a noble or challenging goal. Twenty-
thousand still seemed a little high.
He knew hardly anything about something so superfluous as furniture shopping,
and Judai likely just knew something that he didn’t, but he figured it would be
better to ask now than later. “Judai-san, you know that I only budgeted a
portion of my stipend for this?” He wasn't sure how much Judai planned to spend
for this, but just the table would cut out a sizable chunk from Yusei's
portion.
“Eh? What are you talking about Yusei? I’m paying!”
“What- no.” He refused to let Judai pay for anything when he could contribute.
The older male chuckled good-naturedly. “Hey now, remember, it’s my fault we
don’t even have a couch in the first place. I sold all my furniture without
checking with you.”
“We’re sharing that apartment.” Yusei said firmly. “It was just as much my
fault for not thinking of something like that.”
“Sheesh! So eager to shoulder the responsibility. You’re still a kid, you
know!” His firm gaze didn’t waver in the face of Judai’s blasé response. No
matter how young Yusei’s body was compared to Judai’s, the mechanic was in no
way a child. The brunette was surprisingly perceptive, given his lackadaisical
personality, so he must have sensed Yusei’s obstinacy on the matter. “Well,
alright then! Let’s make a deal. You’ll buy your own furniture- things like
your desk, your night-stand, and your chair, and I’ll handle the rest of the
apartment.”
He frowned. “That still doesn’t sound very fair. We share the rest of the
apartment. You’re still paying a lot for me.”
“Hm, fair point.” Judai hummed, bouncing little steps from side-to-side in a
childish little squirm. Yusei noticed a long time ago that his roommate had a
hard time standing still. “How about an extra condition? If I take care of the
apartment, you have to take care of making breakfast and dinner whenever you
can! I can barely cook at all and you seemed interested when you asked me about
western breakfasts. So that’s the deal! Sound fair?”
Yusei didn’t know a thing about cooking besides the staples like the rice and
miso he has for breakfast, but making the effort to learn and taking care of
Judai seemed like fair payment to him. Really, the only thing he had to do for
breakfast was make slightly bigger portions to share with Judai. But there was
something else he could do too.
“If that’s the case, then I’ll handle most of the groceries.” The deal sounded
even better when he added that. “You can buy snacks for yourself, but I’ll take
care of keeping the kitchen stocked for the meals I make.”
The brunette grinned widely. “Sounds good to me! Now, with that out of the way,
let’s get back to shopping!” He grabbed the mechanic’s arm with a wide and
boyish grin, tugging him along with buoyant energy. Yusei couldn’t stop the
quiet chuckle from escaping, despite the unhappy looks they were getting for
being too rowdy. Judai had weirdly good ears though, and his answering carefree
laughter made it known that he heard Yusei’s humor. He still wasn’t used to
contact, but the brunette’s sunny nature helped it steadily feel more natural
from him.
He browsed the store with Judai for a table, suggesting only the cheapest
pieces out of a sense of courtesy. It seemed that the college student had at
least some standard in mind, but he kept asking Yusei for his opinion. “I think
I really like this one.” His roommate's voice cut into his thoughts.
“Which?”
“That one.” A slim finger pointed to a tall but compact rectangular table. The
chairs were barstools and instead of the common four legs, the table had two
thick slabs on either side with shelves built inside. The table was tall enough
to tuck the barstools underneath when they weren’t in use. It was compact, but
also managed to offer extra storage space.
‘Useful,’ Yusei noted with approval. ‘Makes good use of space for extra storage
and for small rooms.’ The price was a modest eighteen thousand yen and the wood
looked very nice- it was rich and dark. “I like it.” He agreed.
“Sold!” The brunette cheered and accessed the terminal near the display. Each
furniture display was set up near an accompanying computer terminal that you
could place your order with. Judai would use it to pick out the preferred
version of the display, enter their apartment information, and then scan his
credit card. Apparently once the order was processed, the store will deliver it
to your address for you.
They perused again for various other things Judai wanted. As time passed Yusei
started to get a good sense of what “look” Judai liked and thus got the hang of
recommending pieces that he would like. By the end of their trip, they had
bought a beautiful white couch with small red pillows that Yusei was honestly a
little intimidated to sit in, a wide shelf that would both store their
television and act as storage for their books and such, and various odds and
ends for the kitchen and living room. Yusei initially opted to by himself the
cheapest desk, chair, and lamp available, but Judai managed to convince him to
buy a couple things for just a little more when there was something with more
useful features available.
He gazed at the red fabric on Judai’s back as his thoughts drifted. They were
now purchasing and placing delivery orders for the smaller items, like the
kitchenware, the lamp, and the other small things they’d need around the home.
It was around the time the cashier had squatted down to find something or other
that Yusei couldn’t stop himself from thinking that Judai had unexpectedly
enjoyed shopping. He wouldn’t have pictured the bouncy brunette to enjoy
something most people would think of as tedious.
‘Maybe he would have and he brought the clueless Satellite so he wouldn’t be
bored and alone.’ He entertained the thought with amusement. He himself didn’t
find the shopping as any stretch of the word ‘boring’. While he couldn’t
possibly be bored because of the sheer novelty of it all, these kinds of
marketplaces should be pedestrian for his city-born roommate.
His thoughts were interrupted when Judai suddenly turned around with a wicked
grin on his face. “Right now, you’re thinking about how surprising it is that I
like shopping, aren’t you?”
How did he-?! “I- No, that’s…“ He was caught red-handed and there was no point
blubbering over it. “Well, I was surprised, but I wasn’t thinking badly of
you.”
The brunette snickered. “Heh! You’re face isn’t as stoic as you think, Yusei.
It’s pretty open.”
Well, it was the first he heard that.
“Since you were wondering, I really liked shopping for the furniture today for
a number of reasons. I enjoyed it because, even though I’ve had my own share of
hardships, I’ve never suffered not having enough. I lived my life with good
parents that provided for me and then later I went to a nice boarding school
that also provided for me. I just feel like it’s official now, even if it’s
something as small as buying my own furniture; I’m an adult.”
Yusei could understand pride in doing something for yourself, and he could even
understand the feeling of hitting a milestone in your life. He smiled, infected
with Judai’s warm glow.
“And,” The brunette continued, “I got to spend some time with you.” He
finished, looking pleased with himself.
That, he didn’t know how to respond to. The way Judai declared something like
that so unabashedly stunned him a little.
“I can tell, Yusei, that you’ve had a rough time of things. And on top of that
you’re under a lot of pressure from school. I think it’ll be good to drag you
out of your routine once in a while.” He winked with a grin that was all teeth,
satisfaction, and youthful zeal.
This was different from pity, something that Yusei would have recoiled at. He
didn’t need pity, not from someone who had just admitted to having an easy time
of things, not when he had his pride and dignity as a Satellite to retain among
city citizens that would always see him as something dirty and lesser. This was
a gesture more familiar than shallow pity. “Thank you.” Yusei said, gratefully,
once again feeling the warmth of welling respect and affection for his
roommate’s kind and strangely gentle nature. Judai was rowdy and almost too
energetic at times, but there was this strange gentleness to him in his almost
innate understanding and sensitivity to the thoughts and emotions of others.
The mechanic had spent quite a bit of his recent life holding others at an
arm’s length, far away from him. He will never understand the city’s residents
or even care to in the same way Judai cared enough to reach out to him, someone
from Satellite, on sight and first impression alone. It was the brunette’s
ability to bridge the gap and reach out to others, even a marked Satellite,
without a second’s hesitation, that Yusei respected and admired him for.
With their shopping done, the roommates began the long task of carrying
everything their arms could hold back to their home. They had most of it
delivered, but that cost a bit extra, so they made as much use of their bodies
as they could.

They were greeted by a snoozing Pharaoh when they got home, and the pair
proceeded to place their purchases around the house. Dish rags and hand towels
for the kitchen, basic white curtains for the windows, a throw rug for the
bathroom, and other little things they would need around the house.

“Looks livable to me.” Judai smiled with an air of satisfaction.

The place looked fine to him before, but after buying his own things and
dressing his own space how he liked, Yusei understood the glow his friend
radiated. It was a glow of independence and freedom and making something wholly
your own. He felt it first when his bike was complete, and now he felt it in
the home he shared with his roommate. Things were unbelievably good, and it was
thanks to the brunette who had bothered to reach out to some random branded
thug.

“Yeah.” He said, a matching grin slowly stretching long-dormant facial muscles.
Chapter End Notes
     ...but can we have a collective "aww" for dem ending scenes? I'm so
     sorry for my cheesy romance but I like provologne and colby jack
     okay? Lol Yusei's becoming DOMESTICATED and I can just picture the
     face he would make if I told him that. XD
     ALSO GUESS WHO'S BIRTHDAY IT IS ON THIS MARCH 26TH? Yeeey I'm oooold,
     ovo. All the whippersnappers on the internets makes me feel old even
     at my now-19. At least I'm still younger than Judai, lol. Yeesh, I
     started writing this crap when I was 17, and I waited until I was
     practically 19 to get it going?
***** Fine Dining! (Friends Not Included) *****
Chapter Summary
     Dinner with friends is nice, ain't it Yusei?
Chapter Notes
     THIS IS THE CHAPTER I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Surprisingly, the second week of school passed peacefully. True, Yusei's
struggle to keep pace in his classes was growing more evident by the day, but
no one bothered him or his friends. He would know, considering he had been
looking over his shoulder for the entire second week. Mostly on the vigilance
for cold-eyed teens and shiny-shoed men; Yusei couldn't logically explain it,
but he did have a pretty bad feeling that things were going to go south for
some time now.
"Hey Yusei, Yugi and I are goin' to the arcade after classes. Wanna come?"
Jonouchi invited. "Anzu's too busy with her class rep' stuff and Honda's gotta
watch his nephew today."
He hesitated. "I should be studying..." Especially with how far behind he was.
Plus, he didn't know what an arcade was. As far as his limited knowledge of the
city went, it was a place young kids and teenagers went to play games, but
details like what kind of games were played and how the places specifically
functioned were lost.
"You've been studyin' since you got here man." Jonouchi said with an annoyed
huff. "We haven't got to hang out with you since we went to Gramps' shop last
week. Just one day isn't gonna kill you."
Yusei felt a small stab of guilt and privately admitted that Jonouchi was
right. Aside from the occasional exchange with Judai, who would pull him away
from his work once in a while, he had been holing himself up with his studies
for the past week. He probably owed his friends a day; besides, tomorrow was a
Sunday, so he could get his work done then.
"It's alright if you can't come, Fudo-kun." Muto smiled understandingly, though
it looked a little sad.
He sighed. "No, I guess I can spare some time today."

"Awesome!" The blonde whooped and slapped Yusei on the shoulder.
"It'll be fun!" Muto assured with a beam.
Well, it would have, if an arcade would let him in.
The trio had stopped by no less than four different arcades, and all four
owners shooed them out the second their eyes caught sight of his trackers.
Jonouchi had been furious the first time, but with each rejection he was
steadily growing more livid. Once Yusei began suggesting that they go inside
without him or that he just go home and let the two have fun, Muto's eyes grew
hard and determined.
"Listen you two," He said with a sigh after their fourth angry rejection. "You
went out to play games, right? Go on without me."
"Hell no." Jonouchi said faster than a blink.
Muto obstinately frowned at a stoplight, already leading them to yet another
arcade out of the likely hundreds he somehow knows about. "Fudo-kun, we came to
play games together; that's why we invited you."
"Damn straight. It's not every day we manage to drag you away from your books."
Yusei was... flattered? He couldn't pinpoint exactly what he was feeling, just
that he was touched they would go so far out of their way to have fun with him.
It's not like his old family of friends at Satellite were any different; they,
especially Rally, were always trying to drag him away from his work to spend
time with him whenever he let himself get too swamped with his various
projects. It was just that he'd forgotten what it was like to have friends.
"Why don't we go to Muto's game shop then?" They could play all the games they
wanted at his shop.
"Because I don't have a lot of two-player games." Muto sighed, looking abashed.
What? How did he not?
"I saw a lot board games there? And cards. There were plenty of games made for
groups there."
Jonouchi sent him a funny look. "No, no, dude. We're talking about video
games."
"A... what?" And that sent him twin looks of alarm. He patiently rode out their
shocked silence, the kind during which someone said something so unbelievable
that one had to check whether or not they were joking.
"Y-Y'know- a video game." The blond sputtered, make vague and useless gestures
with his hands as if they would reveal the answer.
They stared disbelievingly at Yusei's continuously uncomprehending look.
"They're games that you play with computers and on the T.V." Muto explained,
looking lost.
Oh, that explained it. Working televisions were difficult to salvage, what with
their delicate microchips and plasma innards. Some older models even ran using
a form of dangerous radiation,making them too hazardous to reliably salvage.
Most homes in Satellite had some form of weak electricity, but it was
haphazardly rationed to a few hours a week per home, so few people even had the
power to run televisions. Plus, some unfortunate houses didn't get power at all
because of careless city officials and their lazy documentation. Even after
those considerable obstacles, there was the fact that Satellite didn't have any
television programming to speak of. You would have to have the skills and
supplies to basically hack into the weak, rogue radio signals that would
occasionally flare over Satellite. Ironically, hacking into rogue radio signals
would be a bit easier than finding and powering the actual television. Because
of the rarity and the hassle of putting together and operating working
televisions, a vast majority of people never bothered with video and electronic
entertainment beyond the scraps they provided for other projects. Yusei knew
someone that would illegally siphon power from the various recycling plants and
labor factories, but he was caught and dragged off. His family would never hear
from him again.
"We don't have those." He said simply, before he ended up drowning himself in
that familiar, festering anger. It was poisonous, and he fought to suppress it
every day, to varying degrees, and to not lose himself in it. It was easiest
when Judai was around.
Jonouchi sounded downright offended at that. "Well shit, now we haveto get you
to an arcade."
Yusei sighed. "You don't have to do anything."
"But we want to." Muto answered with a tone of finality, looking more
determined than before. He was weirdly assertive at odd times. Well, maybe not
assertive, but more a quiet insistence. Especially if it was to help someone.
They lapsed into silence and wandered further around the area between their
school and NDU, which were not that far apart; the blocks between NDU and
Domino Senior High were a cluster of trendy shops, restaurants, and arcades for
the students of either school.
"If it isn't my favorite trash rat." A hard, gruff voice cut into their
conversation and he could hear Muto gasp.

No.
"How's the city treating you? Much better than that garbage heap you belong to,
right? Much better than trash like you deserves, right?"
Surely not.
"Who do you think you are?" Jonouchi hissed, ignoring the shining police badge,
a blazing beacon of justice and protection and injustice and danger.
Yusei stared resolutely at the candy shop across the street, determined not to
acknowledge his pestering. He had something going for him; an opportunity that
was too good to be ruined by his temper. The mechanic was quiet, unsettlingly
so at times, but he was surprisingly hot-blooded and life experiences have
given him a dangerous temper when it was triggered. Yusei has done things he's
not proud of under the influence of his rare but potent rage.
"You should watch your mouth when speaking to an officer of the law, kid. The
name's-"
-The name's the second worst name in all of Domino City.
"Officer Ushio. And you had best pick better friends."
"F-Fudo-kun is a good friend...!" Muto protested, all gentle persistence and
well-meant desperation and it was so obviously not in his nature to argue with
others.
"I was talking to the blonde brat and only the blonde brat." Yusei could just
hear Ushio's lips vicious curling in dark satisfaction with his bullying. Yusei
was much too prideful to ever entertain the notion of being a victim himself,
but it was easy to see that's what Ushio was trying to do. It worked on fragile
people like Muto. Despite his determination to ignore the officer's prodding,
something about that statement confused him. "But I see it would be a waste of
breath."
"Eh?" Jonouchi snarled. "The hell are you sayin'?" Ushio began to turn an
alarming shade of crimson.
"He-ey! Yusei!" A voice interrupted just as it looked like the officer was
going to explode in a fit of mortal violence. It was simultaneously like
hearing a trumpet of angels and a death sentence. Because, on one hand, being
around Judai made everything easier. One the other, Yusei did not want his
roommate within ten feet of Ushio or Yusei's old life. Judai was too good for
that.
Running across the crosswalk, with another man in tow, was his small, fluffy,
and spry roommate. "What's going on here?" He said, bright and friendly despite
the obvious tension in the air. His friend didn't have quite the same
boisterous gall to shamelessly barge into a tense conversation as Judai, but he
looked calm and various as he assessed the situation with intelligent eyes.
Officer Ushio bared his teeth in his fury. "Just keeping an eye on the vermin.
It looks like we have an infestation."
"Oi-!"
"Oh really! Wow! Where?" Judai looked around with a look of innocent curiosity.
"I had no idea the big city was so unkempt!"
The stones on this one to act so innocent even as he sassed police officers.
Yusei knew by now that Judai liked to play at being more foolish than he really
was.
So of course Ushio fell for the bait. Classic. "It is not. The public workers
for the law and the city's welfare do a superb job. I'm talking about the
Satellite garbage and his little friends stinking up the streets!" Ushio sent a
meaningful look to Judai, letting him know that the brunette was included on
his list.
From the corner of his eye, Yusei could see Jonouchi begin to lunge for the
officer, only barely held back in time from committing a grave mistake by Muto.
A crowd of onlookers began to gather and Yusei decided enough was enough. "I
get that you don't like me, and I don't particularly care, but what do you have
against Muto-san?"
The behemoth of a man sent Yusei a heated look, like scalpels trying to pick
him apart and leave him for dead. "I hate you and all of your little friends."
"But earlier you mentioned Muto-san specifically through omission." With that
little comment that only Jonouchi needed to choose better friends, and not the
small and fragile-looking Muto.
There was a long pause of silence, as vary degrees of rage and other smoldering
emotions flared behind the officer's eyes. Finally, he addressed Jonouchi and
Muto. "I wouldn't be wrong to say that you go to Domino High School, would I?"
Silence.
"I'm sure you noticed by now- I look quite similar to someone, don't I Muto?"
All eyes glanced at their smallest friend, who quivered slightly under the
pressure. Yusei sighed. "Leave him alone, U-"
"Shut up." He hissed, and this violent and deranged mania, this furious promise
of hatred and retribution was nothing like the arrogant and elitist officer
Yusei was familiar with. He wasn't frightened, but this was looking more
dangerous than he thought.
"...Ushio-kun. From school." Muto mumbled, but with a light of comprehension in
his eye.
Ushio? From school-?
"Oh shit." Jonouchi recognized Ushio From School from the note of horror. "That
damn thug-"

The blonde yelped as a mammoth hand reached out, swift and sure and deadly as a
hound, gripping his shirt."One more fucking word I won't be held responsible
for what I'll do to you." Jonouchi's mouth clamped shut, his teeth coming
together with an audible click, but his brown eyes still burned with a fiery
determination as he forcibly wrenched himself from Ushio's vice grip.
Yusei didn't understand. "Who...?"
"Remember your second day of school, F-Fudo-kun? I think it was the second?"
Muto started, hesitant and then downright anxious as Ushio's wild eyes bored
into his small frame. "That day we saw a student..." He trailed off, biting his
lip.
"Go on and say it, brat. Please." The officer said softly, dangerously. "What
did you see?"
"I-It was Ushio-kun... he was rolling around in the garbage." The tiny teenager
squeezed his eyes shut, as if it would make this entire nightmarish situation
go away, and Yuseis's memory sparked with images from last week. Now that it
was mentioned, he could see an uncanny resemblance between the large teenaged
Ushio and his giant of a father.

"That's right!" Ushio suddenly exploded, drawing shocked cries from everyone
involved and the surrounding gawkers. "My son! My son! Reduced to a gibbering
lunatic!"
Yusei was quick to intervene, stepping in front of Muto. "But what does this
have to do with Muto-san?" He persisted calmly, refusing to rise to Ushio's
tantrum.
The large man huffed and puffed, barrel chest heaving with fury and hot breath.
"D'you wanna know the first thing my son said? After we managed to coax his
mind back into coherent thought?"
They waited in stunned silence. Yusei couldn't see Muto from behind him, but he
could see Judai clearly and sent his roommate an apologetic look. While Ushio
would have had a personal vendetta against Muto regardless, Judai deserved so
much more than to be exposed to such violent behavior by association with
Yusei. The brunette gave him a soft look, as if he was trying to tell him not
to worry through his facial expression alone. Of course Judai would preoccupy
himself more with making sure his roommate wasn't worried than concerning
himself with his own bodily safety.
The officer laughed derisively, an angry bark. "The first thing my son said was
to beg us to not let Muto Yugi find him. And then he started babbling about how
'it' was gonna get him."
A tense silence washed over the group like a wet blanket, with Muto staring
resolutely at the ground.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean anything." Yusei tried to reason, his voice
a careful tip-toe around an angry hound. "You said yourself that it was a
struggle for Ushio-san to think clearly-"
Ushio's lip curled into something savage. "Ah- but you see, after my son
dropped a name, I decided to do a little digging on our friend." Muto's face
turned the color of milk. "And-"
"Ushio-san." Judai suddenly cut in with a small hand on Ushio's thick arm, the
slender appendage absolutely dwarfed by the officer's larger frame. With a
crack of a whip, Ushio's head snapped dangerously towards Judai, and Yusei
found his body unconsciously moving forward. To do what, he didn't know. Maybe
to protect his roommate, as even he didn't know what Ushio was capable of now.
A calm hand clasping his shoulder stopped him, and Yusei was surprised to see
Judai's friend, who gazed at him solemnly. "Let it be. Just trust him."
"To do what?"
"You'll see."
In the meantime, Ushio had been snapping and snarling with a dog-like fury at
Judai. "Get your hand off of me." He growled.
"Ushio-san, come with me." Judai said softly, voice a silken drape over a stone
cold wall. It was gentle, but with an under-tone of commanding that brooked no
argument, and despite himself and everything he's faced, Yusei felt a slight
chill at the jarring change in his roommate. "I'd like to talk to you.
Privately." Judai's back was turned to the rest of the group, and for just an
irrational moment Yusei was inexplicably glad that he didn't see his roommates
face.
But to his shock, Ushio's twisted snarl relaxed into something blank. He nodded
and followed Judai to some respectable distance, where they could talk lowly
and out of earshot.
Yusei still couldn't see Judai's face. None of them could, from this angle.

"Judai-kun has a way with words." The stranger said with a thin smile.
"Who are you?" Yusei asked, suspicious in the way that he always is with new
people. His eyes never left Judai and Officer Ushio.
He could see Judai's friend shoot him an amused look from the corner of his
vision. "I'm a friend of Judai's from school. Misawa Daichi. Please treat me
well." He politely held out a hand, and unlike Godwin or Kaiba, Yusei could see
that there wasn't a mocking or condescending edge. Misawa was just well-
mannered.
He reciprocated with a level of respect he reserved for the rare city citizens
that treated him with respect. "Fudo Yusei. Nice to meet you." He allowed his
eyes to leave his roommate for only the seconds it took to properly greet
Misawa.
Before his other friends could introduce themselves, Officer Ushio hissed and
stomped away. "Next time I see you brats, I won'tbe letting you off!"  He
snarled over his shoulder.
The brunette just heaved a tired, long-suffering sigh. "Man, he's a handful."
Yusei distantly noted that he sounded like just Martha.
"J-Judai-san..." Muto mumbled dazedly, his arms going lax and releasing his
friend's mouth from beneath his hands. Yusei wondered how Jonouchi was being so
quiet.
"How did you-?" The newly freed blonde looked at Judai like he sprouted another
head.
He laughed, bright and cheery. To Yusei, it was like sunshine breaking through
a gray, clouded sky. Maybe he was being embarrassingly poetic, but the return
of his light and airy demeanor seemed to visibly lift the entire group at once.
Muto straightened from his hunched posture, Jonouchi relaxed his previously
tight and coiled muscles, and Misawa's restrained smile grew a small note of
fondness. It was just the kind of effect Judai's personality had on other
people. "I didn't do anything that special! I just pulled him aside and talked
him down. He's just a grieving dad, you know? He needs someone to blame."
Muto and Jonouchi looked surprised at his insight, though whether or not it was
because Judai shared something they haven't considered or because they were
just surprised he was capable of that level of thought was unclear. Maybe a bit
of both. Judai's childishly large pools of energy and boundless cheer belied
his emotional intelligence. "Guys like him can't stand by while someone they
care about is hurt." Yusei added quietly, noting that Misawa wasn't surprised
by Judai's show of intellect.
Jonouchi glared in the general direction said officer stalked off to. "I can
get that- I really can. But takin' it out on Yugi and you without any proof is
shitty. Plus, he's only harassing you because you're from Satellite."
He refrained from pointing out that Jonouchi did the same thing just a week
ago, because that was old news and he's done more than enough to redeem his
actions. "Lots of people do that." He said simply, and the group fell into a
brooding silence.
"Hey, hey, you guys." Judai thumped him on the arm. "I go through all that
trouble to get Dirty Harry out, and you ruin the mood again? Let's lighten up
here!"
"Sorry." Yusei said. "You're right." They came all the way out here to have
fun; he couldn't let his Satellite roots ruin the day for his friends.
"Why don't you introduce your friends to me, Judai?" Misawa, forgotten in the
back of the group, cut in with an amused look to his friend.
Judai blinked with a startled look. "Right- right! Sorry, man! Guys, this is
Misawa Daichi. We share a lot of classes at college and even went to the same
high school."
"Muto Yugi. It's nice to meet you, Misawa-san." Muto said politely, but not
with the usual enthusiasm. Ushio must have really gotten to him, blaming him
for Ushio-san's hospitalization.
Jonouchi sent his short friend a concerned look from behind him. "Jonouchi
Katsuya. Nice to meet ya."
With the formalities out of the way, Judai bounced on the balls of his feet.
"So what're you guys doin' out here anyways? Shopping?"
"Oh," Muto came back to attention with the mention of their plans. "We're
looking for an arcade to visit."

"If one would let us in." Jonouchi grumbled, offended on Yusei's behalf.
"Yes, I imagine that would be hard." Misawa said with an understanding look, as
if he'd solved a math problem. It shouldn't be hard to figure out with the loud
yellow trackers stuck to Yusei's face.
"Whaaat? You mean they won't let you in?" Judai huffed, looking annoyed before
his face suddenly perked up in another one of his jarring mood swings. He was
far more emotionally expressive and capricious than Yusei was accustomed to;
even Rally was more restrained. Trying to keep up with Judai's mood swings
occasionally left him feeling like a rug was pulled from under his feet. "You
know, I think I know a place! Wanna come, Misawa?"

"Thank you for the offer," said Misawa, "but I have some things to take care of
at home. I'll see you later, Judai. Nice to meet you, you three."

"What? Boo!" Judai grinned at his friend's retreating form, despite his words.
"It was nice to meet you too!" said Muto.
Jonouchi waved carelessly. "Catch you later."
"So where's the place?" Their shortest member inquired.
"It's actually not far from here." The brunette hummed. "Just a hop and skip.
Maybe a couple streets down?"
They had walked halfway there, turning a corner and crossing a street, when a
black car rolled up to the side. "Excuse me." A stoic man in a crisp black suit
stepped out, peering at them with disinterested black eyes. Yusei described him
to have all the enthusiasm of a brick, but it was worth noting that the man
was smiling. That's just how fake and plastered on it was. "You're Muto Yugi
and his friends, correct?"
"Um... Y-yes?" Muto looked like the world had turned upside down and
inexplicably pink, for all the confusion written on his face.
"Good." The smartly-dressed stranger plowed on, like Muto's response didn't
matter in the slightest. "I've been hired by Kaiba Seto-sama to come and pick
you up. He'd like to meet you-"

"No." Yusei interrupted and began walking. He refused to be in the presence of
Seto Kaiba longer than absolutely necessary, and those necessities generally
encompassed danger to life-and-limb. The very image of his ice-cold eyes and
plastic mockery of genuine human interaction made his skin crawl.

"Please wait." The man smiled thinly, and it made the whites of his black eyes
narrow into dark pools. "I'm afraid that I've been hired to pick you up. You
can decline, but I won't receive any pay to drive across the city and back with
an empty car." An obvious guilt trip. "Besides, as I understand it, he would
like to give you all a gift to apologize for his uncouth behavior previously."
 
He must have meant the little episode back at the shop, but from the way Muto
cringed there might have been another story they weren't privy to. "The answer
is still-"

"Okay."
What? "Muto-san, you don't have to go." He said, concerned. Muto was
softhearted, that's what made him very kind, but it also made him an easy
target for manipulators like Kaiba and the driver here.
"I know, but if Kaiba-kun wants to apologize then he at least deserves a
chance."
Jonouchi carded a hand through blonde locks. "Okay- fine. But you ain't goin'
alone, are ya?" He shot a meaningful look to the black-eyed man.
"Kaiba-sama extends his invitation to any of Muto's friends that would
accompany him." He responded crisply, with a detached smile of professionalism.
Well, that was that, but there was one other thing he had to address. "Judai-
san." He started, pulling his friend's attention. Judai had remained
respectfully quiet, given that he didn't know what was going on. "I don't think
you should come."
"Eh? Why not?"

"I don't trust Kaiba." He said lowly. "He's... a suspicious character. Fake.
The kind of person that doesn't do things unless they'll benefit from it. I
don't think he has good intentions."
"All the more reason to go then." The brunette said stubbornly. "If you get
into trouble, I wanna be there. Plus, I'm twenty.Having an adult there might
help."
Yusei seriously, seriouslydoubted that. Kaiba probably cared that Judai was
over the age of eighteen about as much as he cared about liberating Satellite.
"But-"
"Enough." And there was that firm tone again, the one that Yusei had a hard
time arguing with. It's not that Judai scared or intimidated him, but it was
hard to argue when someone so goofy got such a serious look on their face. It
was even harder to argue with someone that already made up their mind an hour
before you even had the conversation in the first place. "I wanna go."
He sighed. "Alright, but promise me you'll watch out for yourself. Kaiba's
dangerous."
A bright, toothy grin. "Sure! Promise."
They reluctantly clambered into the back of the luxurious and spacious car,
opting to sit together over the uncomfortable position of being alone with the
driver in the front.

"Why would Kaiba call us like this?" Jonouchi managed to lounge lazily even in
the seat of the car, his arms cradling his head against the head-rest. "He
could just meet up with us at school like a normal person."

It's a power play. People like Kaiba liked to throw their money and make lavish
gestures because they could. It made them feel powerful over others, showing
off nice things many others couldn't have and letting them have a taste of a
higher standard of living. In the correctional facility, it was the constant
showing strength and muscle and brutality that won the recognition and
dominance over others, with people like Kaiba and Godwin, it was wantonly
flashing their money and materialism. Same strategy, different weapons.
"I haven't even seen him in school..." Muto said thoughtfully. "So maybe he
just couldn't?"
"Maybe he was sick?" Judai guessed.
"Kaiba-sama has been very busy, as I understand it." The driver cut in
smoothly. "He's been backlogged in a lot more work than usual lately. It's only
natural of course; he isthe president of the Kaiba Corporation."
"What?!"
"Eh?!"
"You mean that mega entertainment company? He's that Kaiba?!"

"B-but he's in high school!"
Judai looked quietly thoughtful, contrasting the loud and shocked outbursts of
Muto and Jonouchi. "So... what is the Kaiba Corporation?" Yusei asked, since it
was apparently a very big deal.
"Oh, right. Sorry Fudo-kun." Muto looked slightly abashed. "Kaiba Corporation
is one of the largest game and leisure companies in the world. They have
branches in several different countries and are usually at the front of new
technology. When it comes to games."
So very important and very rich and very powerful, basically. Great. Another
obscenely important and rich and powerful person out to get him and his friends
in his life. Wonderful.
"I see." He said.
"And I happen to be the vice president!" A small voice burst into the
conversation. A young boy with a thick mane of black hair sat in the front,
twisting his body around the passenger seat to look at them with a poorly-
hidden sense of self-importance eerily similar to another rich boy Yusei has
made abundantly clear that he didn't trust. They were multiplying.
His own melodrama aside, the kid kept talking with a snicker that was supposed
to sound boyish, but the sound was twisted with that same uncanny insincerity
that distorted every word Kaiba said. "It's been a while, Yugi-kun!" As Yusei
understood city etiquette, the familiar address to the older Muto by the much
younger child was considered very rude. "We certainly had fun the other day,
didn't we?"
Muto flinched.
And Yusei's opinion of the kid hit rock bottom.
"I-I remember you... You're Kaiba-kun's younger brother..." said Muto, with the
friendly enthusiasm of a leaking balloon, just crinkling and crumpling in on
himself with every word. Yusei had definitely missed a few things over the
weekend.
Judai blinked. "So young..."
The kid looked unaffected by Muto's lack of joy and Judai's surprise; he just
steamrolled ahead, as Yusei was sure he was very accustomed to doing to anyone
who didn't swim along to his river's current. "The name's Kaiba Mokuba!" His
lips curled at the corner in a half-hearted gesture more similar to a wolf's
satisfied snarl, after gorging on someone small and helpless, than an
expression of human joy, the same way his older brother's did. He looked at
Muto with the same faintly amused expression as the neighborhood kids that
liked to squish insects. "And don't look so down, Yugi-kun! You guys are
special guests today! As it turns out, my brother's long project is coming to
completion, and tomorrow is the grand opening!"
"A grand opening?" Jonouchi leaned forward with open interest.
"Well," Mokuba started, looking satisfied with himself to have such undivided
attention. "My brother is a pretty great guy, you know. He wanted you guys to
have fun, so you're invited to the special eve party!"
"And what kind of project is it? The one we're being invited to celebrate?"
With the attention away from whatever debacle took place between him and Mokuba
over the weekend, Muto had opened up again with his interest in the upcoming
reveal overtaking his fear. Well, Muto does love games and Kaiba's
company is one of the biggest businesses in games, apparently.
"It's a secret! Can't spoil the surprise!" Mokuba giggled.
Yusei didn't like that laugh.
 
===============================================================================
 
Kaiba's home was one of the single most ridiculous things Yusei has ever seen
in his entire life. If he didn't understand the sad need for the rich to flaunt
their wealth over others, he'd be repeatedly asking why two children would ever
need a house big enough to shelter an entire sector of Satellite.
"I-It's like a friggin' castle." Jonouchi sputtered, more out of awe than
Yusei's unimpressed disbelief. Yusei didn't hate people who happened to have
money, nor did he hate people that happened to have or want nice things, but
the knowledge that two little boys lived in a beautiful home that could provide
better standards of living to hundreds out of the thousands of good people
forced to live in leaky concrete sheds angered him. Not specifically at the
Kaiba boys, but at the unfairness of everything inflicted upon him and his
friends and the thousands of other people shoved to the side for the sake of
cruel, spoiled mockeries for decent humans like Godwin or the Kaibas. The Kaiba
palace gleamed with sparkling marble, artistic statues and paintings, carpets
soft enough to sleep on, and rich, polished wood that reflected his stony face
more flawlessly than any mirror could ever hope to.
It made his stomach turn.
"Welcome home, young master." A long line of immaculate servants bowed in
graceful and perfect synchronization, eerily reminiscent to a line of
manufactured machines. With the unsettling lack of family photos, personal
paraphernalia, or even people, everything about Kaiba's home, spacious and
beautiful as it is, felt cold and artificial. Yusei himself tended to let
things get reasonably cluttered in his room at the apartment, because the
incorrigibly messy array would remind him of the cramped, but lived-in quality
of his home back in Satellite. His friends would actually have a good laugh
about that. In Satellite, that same clutter used to drive him insane, and he
would be constantly at war with the mess in a small space too cramped to truly
organize in. Yusei supposed it was just his homesickness surfacing in those
little changes.
"You're Muto-sama, correct?" A short, wrinkled old man hobbled to the front
with a wide, toothy grin that unsettled Yusei just like everything else here.
"I have specific orders from Kaiba-sama to attend to your every need. Your
company, as well."
"Hey, where's my brother?" said Mokuba.
"Sir, he went to lie down earlier."
"What the hell..." The boy muttered with language that Martha would be pulling
his ears for. "He invites guests over for a special night and then goes to take
a nap?"
The old servant's placid smile never twitched. "He's been working for days with
very little rest... I'd hate to disturb his long-awaited sleep."
"Ugh," he sniffed irritably, presumably in his older brother's poor show as a
host. "Well, whatever. I guess you guys are my guests tonight! We might have to
put off the real party 'till tomorrow or something."
"Tomorrow?" Yusei asked flatly, addressing the presumptuousness of Mokuba to
assume that they'd go along with his plans.
"Uh- yeah? Tomorrow." The boy rolled his eyes. "Don't you pay attention?"
Brat.
"For now," The elder cut in smoothly, "shall we prepare supper, young master?"
"Food!" Judai cheered, looking excited.
"That'd be awesome!" Jonouchi celebrated with him in camaraderie forged from a
sensed mutual passion for eating. "We've been walking around all day and I'm
starving!"
"Eh? Why didn't you say that earlier?!" Mokuba grinned and barked orders at his
servants with the casual ease of a kid raised to be used to getting his way.
"Get crackin'! I want only the very best for my guests! Go ahead and use my
personal preferences."
"Personal preferences?" He inquired, hoping Mokuba didn't like eating the
strange novelty foods Judai would tell him about with wide, boyish grins. The
brunette occasionally liked to tell Yusei strange things, just to watch him
balk. He asked Mazaki and Muto about anything his roommate would tell him, and
from what they'd say, Judai never lied to him about the dancing tentacles or
the foods dyed black.
"Don't worry," Mokuba said with that same expression of vague amusement. "I
like the common, popular stuff."
"I see." Yusei responded, and he was quickly coming to realize that he most
often said that when he didn't understand, because of course he wouldn't know
the most popular dishes in the city.
"Holy shit, the very best!"
"This is gonna be awesome."
...At least Judai and Jounouchi were excited. Yusei wasn't comfortable with
being fed by Mokuba and his servants. Not only because he didn't trust them not
to put something shady into his meal, but because his pride didn't like
accepting charity from others, especially shallow charity from a kid that only
liked to show off.
He wouldn't let himself be ungrateful though. "Thank you." He said politely.
"Yeah, whatever." Mokuba said casually, and then grinned much too widely for
Yusei's comfort. "Just look forward to it."
Supper was... interesting? Limited. Very limited. No, that wasn't the best
description. There was, in fact, a wide array of dishes and meals he'd never
seen before, let alone tasted. They were just- the portions that they were
served in were... small. Tiny. He could fit the various tiny plates' contents
into his fist. Supper was served out in literal handfuls. A cursory glance to
the shocked and confused faces of Muto and Jonouchi assured Yusei that, no,
this was not yet another weird and superfluous thing that rich people liked to
do. This was, in fact, an unusual thing.
"It's looks delicious!" Of course Judai was happy with it, but Yusei has long
since learned not to measure his expectations of other city residents with his
roommate as the scale. He results would be woefully inaccurate.
"It's all junk." Muto said, trying to disguise his disappointment with polite
observation.
"Junk?" He normally associated that word with the scrap metal unsuitable for
anything but the recycling plants to melt into new raw metal.
"Um. Junk food." The gamer tried to explain. "Like, treats that taste good, but
aren't really good for you."
"Like candy?" He asked for further clarification, ignoring Mokuba's poorly-
hidden sniggering at his ignorance of what must be basic knowledge. Candy was
priceless in Satellite, to the point where Yusei clearly remembered the first
piece he'd ever had. It was a hard candy, flavored like fruit, given to him by
Martha for his sixth birthday.
"Yeah, like candy. Junk food can taste like anything though. It doesn't have to
be sweet. If a food doesn't have much nutritional value, than it's junk food.
People just eat it because it tastes really good, even though it isn't good for
them in big amounts." Muto and Mazaki were always patient and understanding
whenever he didn't know about something that was basic knowledge to them, and
when they got over their surprise, they'd always explain it in detail until he
understood. Jonouchi was michievous and occasionally fibbed or exaggerated
things, but he meant it in good fun and never looked down on Yusei over his
lack of knowledge.
"Hence the small portions." Mokuba said with a sly grin. "These are all my
favorites! Ice cream, hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza, waffles, cake, and
omelette rice!" He pointed to each respective dish; a couple servings were
visibly the same food, but in different colors or versions. For example, there
was a little fancy glass of pink ice cream, and another with brown ice cream.
"Well? Let's dig in already! Eat as much as you'd like!"
"Cool!" Judai eagerly reached for a utensil.
"...Is what I'd be saying, but that'd be so boring! I'm your host, y'know? I'm
supposed to be entertaining." The kid tried to grin, but to Yusei it looked
more like a sneer. "How 'bout we play a game?"
Of course, Muto was interested in the prospect of a game no matter the time of
the day or the state of his stomach. "Game?"
"Look at this table." Mokuba said grandly. "If you notice, the top rotates! You
usually see this in Chinese restaurants." He demonstrated with a hard turn of
the table, and it spun quickly. "The three of us will take turns spinning the
table, and when it stops you have to eat the meal in front of you! Even if you
don't like it!"
"But of course, you didn't put anything weird in it." Jonouchi said with a
challenging smirk, as the table-top slowed to a halt.
The boy laughed. "Hey, you're my guests! You don't have to worry about anything
like that." They didn't have to worry about death via a poisoned supper because
they were guests, not because it was an awful thing to do. The
implications were a disquieting thought. Kaiba Mokuba was every bit a dangerous
little viper as his older brother. "This is a game, and there's a prize hidden
in one of the meals! The one who finds it is the winner. Let's go clockwise,
starting with my left!"
So Yusei then. Wonderful.
"Okay then, let's eat already!" With that flimsy reassurance, Jonouchi was
fully convinced and spun the table before Yusei could say anything.
The wheel stopped with a plate of what he recalled to be a hamburger. He stared
at the meal with no small amount of trepidation, not only because it was food
served by the suspicious Mokuba, but also because he wasn't entire sure how he
was supposed to eat it. It appeared to be two thick slices of bread with a
thick slab of meat and sparse vegetables in the center, so he was probably
supposed to eat it like a sandwich. Yusei hated eating with his hands.
"What's wrong?" Mokuba giggled at his right. "If you don't eat it all, you
lose! Those are the rules! Besides, don't you wanna see if you got the prize?"
He picked up his utensils with a sigh and cut his hamburger into pieces. His
instincts were telling him not to trust the kid, but it was sometimes hard to
tell apart those survival instincts honed from navigating the shark-infested
waters of Satellite and the correctional facility from his mistrustful paranoia
against the city in general. He didn't trust Judai, and that turned out to be
an incorrect assumption on his part. Maybe Mokuba and his brother didn't have
good intentions for their party, but Yusei doubted they'd try to kill the
others. He himself was another story, because being from Satellite pretty much
made him the equivalent of a particularly large and loathsome vermin to Domino
City's residents, but Muto and the others seemed insignificant enough to people
like the Kaiba brothers. "Most people eat hamburgers with their hands." Mokuba
snorted.
"I don't like eating with my hands." Yusei responded simply, and took a bite.
It was rich. The meat was thick and heavy, with a syrupy texture that coated
his tongue. It didn't taste bad- it was actually quite delicious, but he wasn't
sure if he liked the heavy feeling in his mouth. However, the hamburger was
small and he polished it off quickly, sped up by the fact that everyone was
watching him and it was giving him goosebumps. Or was it the sudden chill in
the room? Yusei's brow furrowed, and like a lightning strike into his core, a
boiling wave of severe cramps struck his midsection. He groaned painfully and
bent over the table, overcome with heat flashes that scorched the backs of his
eyes and made his temple throb like the stamping and pounding of heavy
machinery. He opened his mouth to demand what was happening, but found his
tongue was swelling an alarming rate; he couldn't talk through the thick muscle
filling his mouth. Distantly, his ears picked up the panicked noise of his
friends' voices, the sounds muddled and unclear like they were all underwater.
Cold sweat slid from his hairline, contrasting with the heat of his face.
The room spun.
Images distorted.
His vision went black.
Chapter End Notes
     TROLOLOL YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A NICE DINNER, DIDN'T YOU
     READER? -dodges rotten tomatoes and pointy things- Ow. Pl-please
     forgive me for my absence kudasai. ;v;
     In other news, guess who FINALLY remembered the name of the lady that
     raised Yusei and co? XD It's gonna be hella awkward to use Martha's
     name from now on when I just kept referring to her as Yusei's matron,
     lol.
     Also, the radiated TVs that Yusei mentions are Cathode Ray
     televisions. They basically run by a gun firing an electron ray, and
     viewers are protected from the radiation by a thick lead sheet,
     making the TVs very heavy and too dangerous to salvage. AND "dancing"
     octopus tentacles and foods dyed black with squid ink are a real
     thing in Japan. I know the dancing octopus dish originated in other
     asian countries, but Japan does it too. It's basically where an
     octopus is chopped while it's still alive and the tentacles are
     served almost immediately. The tentacles still twitch from leftover
     nerve impulses and wiggle like worms on the plate. Or something like
     that. Google image "japanese black burger" to see an example of food
     dyed black. It's pretty wild XD
     As always, thanks to everyone who gave kudos, commented, and bothered
     to read in the first place! So... everyone, I guess! :)
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