Chapter Text
Chapter 28 - Shadows in Parents
After Yusho used his invisibility to hide his presence, the Sakaki family walked all the way home, staring at the setting sun in thought. In the future, an army will come to march the streets of Maiami City, and it would be up to them to protect the citizens from being turned into cards.
Yoko knew that she was going to spend the next few nights ringing up her old Sirens to prepare for any signs of soldiers in blue uniforms and silver masks marching upon the streets. She knew that many of them were itching for a fight, and their kids would want to join their mommies for some parent-child bonding. She also needed to talk to Yusho about what he planned to do in Maiami City and how long he'd be here. He mentioned that he was leaving behind numerous students in Fusion to defend themselves while Akaba completely decimated his elite force because he found them to not fit his standards, but she knew that he was in no condition to go back to them. Especially with that leg of his. Physical therapy was in order, along with some homecooked meals to make him regain his lost strength. A phone call to one Michiyo Mikota was in top order.
"Okay, you two," Yoko said, once the three returned home and Yusho removed the invisibility. "First order of business, what would you like for dinner?"
"Ooh, can you make katsudon tonight?" Yuya pleaded. He loved how his mom made sure to double coat the pork with egg and panko breadcrums to make it extra crunchy. He gave her such pleading red eyes as he begged of this, making Yoko laugh.
"Only if you allow me to cook miso-grilled eggplant to go with it," she said. It was time for her to step away from being a Phantom Thief and just be the woman of the house. "But before I cook...we need a talk about what we want to do in the future. Yusho is going to have to reveal himself to Reiji and the world sooner or later. And truthfully, I don't think he's ready to lead an army to war with that leg of his."
Yusho nodded. "I feel bad for having to put this on you two. I should be the one taking care of you instead."
"We'll take care of one another, that's what families do," Yuya whispered. He couldn't be angry with his father anymore. "But mom is right about Reiji, though. We need to find a way for You Show to truly rise like the phoenix and it all starts with you."
Yusho hummed. "This all started because I didn't give The Sledgehammer our long-awaited championship duel, right?"
"Don't tell me, you want to fight The Sledgehammer in your condition?"
"It's the only way to redeem myself in the eyes of the public," Yusho said. "And besides, I really want to see how he's measured up since I left."
"Safe to say that he didn't level up like you did," Yoko noted. "Now that I know the basics of Xyz, I can see that he missed a good opportunity of Xyz summoning a Rank 5 monster with his two Battleguards."
"Where is The Sledgehammer now?" Yusho said. "Up in his penthouse apartment? Hitting the gym?"
That was a good question. After the exhibition duel with Yuya, no one had seen hide nor hair of the former champion. He hadn't been posting anything on his social media accounts either. Not even a congratulatory message for Yuya's unexpected victory.
"He's probably off licking his wounds," Yoko pondered. "Or perhaps he's doing some extra training in order to combat Yuya's Pendulums. Any former champion worth their salt would do that."
Yusho nodded. "Then it's settled. It seems like the only way to truly get Reiji's attention is to put on a show! Can I count on you two to help me prepare until the big day?"
"We made a vow to be together in sickness and in health," Yoko smiled. "If it'll give us a fighting chance, let's do it."
"Same with me, dad!" Yuya smiled. "And besides, I really wanna see what type of combos you've cooked up since we last saw each other. But wait, do you still have your old Performapal deck on you?"
"I do," Yusho said, pulling out a deck from his pocket. He flipped the first card over. Yuya couldn't believe his eyes. Performapal Sky Magician. "But, if I'm going to be honest, it's not mine for me to use anymore."
"What?!" Yuya gasped. Bad enough to learn that his father would have to retire from Action Dueling for good, but to give up his deck. "But dad..."
"I can't be the performer I am at this point," Yusho said with a sigh. "When the dimensions no longer have to worry about Akaba's plans, when we can smile for the future ahead of us, that is when I will draw cards from this deck. Until then, I want you to hold onto it."
Yuya felt his heart leap out of his chest as Yusho pushed the deck towards him. "No...I can't take this! Dad, this isn't..."
"This is non-negotiable, Yuya!" Yusho snapped. "I know that you will be able to use these cards better than I can. These Pendulums were gifted to you for a reason, and that was to expand what we know of Duel Monsters to the beyond. "I'm putting my faith, my hope, in you. I can't give you more than that."
"You can always teach him what you know about Xyz," Yoko remarked. "And in truth, it's about time I start learning a method of my own. Given that we have two Xyz users in the house, how about I go with Synchro? We don't have a dedicated Synchro user yet."
"That's a great idea!" Yuya said. "I think Gongenzaka texted me a while back that he also wants to try Synchro as well because you don't need a Spell Card to summon a monster from the Extra Deck. Oh wait, should I tell him that dad is back?"
"He'll figure it out on his own," Yusho chuckled. "That boy is a friend indeed, more valuable than a dragon that can rip and tear till nothing is left."
(Yuya softly heard a dragon growling in his head. Was that Odd-Eyes?)
Yoko sighed and shook her head. "We're not pushing you to take your father's deck up as your own. We know that this is a lot on your plate. But know that whenever you feel unsure on what to do, if you need someone to listen to you while you cry out, you can always count on us. We're here for you, Yuya."
Yuya sniffled as he wrapped his arms around his parents, heart even lighter than before. This was what he wanted more than anything. More than money, more than powerful cards. All that he ever wanted was to be with his family again.
As his parents returned the embrace, Yuya looked up to see two Tarot cards. The Empress for his mother and The Sun for his father. A nurturing feminine figure and someone who radiates with success and positivity. He couldn't ask for more.
"Well then," Yoko said, after they hugged it out for three minutes. "Hugs don't put food on the table. Who wants to help me cook tonight?"
"I do, I do!" Yuya said, raising his hand.
Yusho smiled as he saw his wife and son wash their hands and prep for dinner. Somehow he felt like the luckiest man in the world.
-----
Reiji should've felt like the luckiest man in the world.
A teenage CEO prodigy, master of three extra deck methods, head of the strongest chain of Duel Schools in the world with a winning streak that was unbeatable....suddenly swamped with lawsuits and bested by a housewife in jeans who was ready to hunt him down and obliterate everything he had ever loved. And she meant it.
Worse, that little stunt with Yuzu and Yuya summoning those Persona were on his mind. It wasn't possible for the likes of them to suddenly gain such power. What made them so special? Of all the schools in Maiami City that had to be blessed with such power and coincidence, it was You Show.
These thoughts circled his head as he and his mother sat across from one another at the restaurant they decided to visit tonight. Hanged Man. Neither he nor his mother ever ate at a restaurant; they had a personal chef to take care of their nutritional needs. Eating out felt like a waste of time and money to them; why go out to eat when you can just make the food yourself? Grocery stores and food companies were always peddling "Do it at home" meal kits. Any middle-class family can make their own sukiyaki at home.
Reiji himself poked at the last piece of tofu dengaku on the plate, more fixated than that than his mother's icy gaze on him. He knew what she was going to say.
"How's your little transaction with You Show going?" she sneered.
Reiji looked up and glared at his mother stabbing a piece of chicken on her plate. Her eyes were on her son's own like a predator slithering in the grass. "Three years, three years we have worked on this project only to be blocked because of that delinquent housewife arriving at quite a very convenient moment and by sheer coincidence, encountered the Yuya from the Xyz dimension. This seems too good to be true...almost as if someone or some thing specifically set it up for us to get our karma."
"This isn't a horror story, mother," Reiji remarked. He once heard a rumor that a pair of siblings in a pharmaceutical business had their entire family killed off by some unusual circumstances. Almost as if there was a curse put upon them. But rumors are rumors; not worth their salt to sprinkle on his food (not that he liked salty foods anyhow). "It just happened to be..."
"What? An act of God?"
"There is no God! That's why I stepped in!" Reiji snapped, slamming his fists on the table. No one bothered to turn around to gawk at him. He would glare at them right back by drawing in an uncomfortable silence that people would all but beg for him to stop looking at him like that. "Because if there was a creator deity around, they would have given me the answers on how to stop my father, instead of forcing me to cobble up this army with little to no prep time! Have you seen the way the students of Leo Duel School fight?"
Himika had. Individually, the students were at the top of their class. But when it came to working together, well it was near impossible. There were only two groups of three who were able to work together without butting heads or pointing fingers. The first one, obviously, were Masumi, Yaiba, and Hokuto. They was solidarity in the trio but the problem was that they like to focus on one main attacker, which doesn't work if the opposition could cripple them with a simple Spell or Trap Card.
The second trio were just as consistent as Leo Duel School's Golden Trio and acted as a mirror to the latter. One female, two males. One who used Fusion, one who used Synchro, one who used Xyz. The camaraderie between them were close, almost like siblings (which was kinda justified since all three of them were orphans who were coincidentally adopted by the same person), and seemed to have an innate mastery of the summonings without ever having to take the introductory course. Almost as if they were duelists in a past life.
Himika shook her head at the thought. Past lives and reincarnations don't exist. If they did, she'd like to find the first spiritualist that allowed her to travel into the past to see who the hell she was to marry a man as cold and heartless as her husband.
"Regardless, " Himika continued as the waiter finally arrived with her son's dish. A small rice bowl topped with simmered beef and tofu. Reiji didn't have time to eat large meals. He had a company to run, after all. Something with a large amount of protein in a bowl would be his go-to meal outside coffee and sandwiches. "We need to ensure that You Show's development in Pendulum and Persona is delivered to our doorstep. We were lucky that Sylvio's arrogance was used to our advantage. We have hundreds of social media accounts to glean over for data regarding Yuzu Hiragi's unexpected possession of Pendulum."
Reiji grunted. He saw how much Yuzu had grown. While her win-loss streak was slightly better than Yuya's pre-Pendulum, she still faltered due to how she was stuck with Tribute. But Yuzu's use of Pendulum was unique than Yuya's way of doing so. She didn't use it to set the Pendulum Scale. Rather she used the monster effects of the Pendulums to facilitate an Xyz Summon. He had a peculiar feeling where Yuzu was granted such powerful Rank 7 and 8 Xyz monsters...
"We need to draw You Show out in the open in a way that doesn't look like we're targeting them," Reiji said, stabbing one of the tofu squares with a fork. "But with the threat of lawsuits and students from all branches of Leo Duel School threatening to pull out, that's easier said than done."
"And then there's that little pet project of yours," Himika noted. "Have you made any progress manifesting other heroes of legend? Are you trying to follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great to have all dimensions united and pacified?"
"I can think about that once my father is locked in a padded cell for the rest of his days," Reiji grumbled. "But I can assure you that the first of my idols is ready to go."
"Are they? I can't keep making excuses for them, you know."
"Trust me," Reiji said, bringing the tofu to his mouth with a smile. "Once my idols take the stage, those Arc Phantoms will fade away and classify themselves as obsolete."
Himika hated that condescending smirk, inherited from his father. She sees it at every guy at work, particularly from the Board of Directors. The Suits, for there were ten of them like cards in a playing deck. They were getting quite testy that profits had been stagnating because there weren't a lot of schools to purchase the permissions to teach, and therefore use, the Extra Deck methods. There was a high demand and a high supply but the fines weren't worth it.
But Himika has seen the records of the top three duelists of each Duel School. Aside from Ryozanpankan school with its use of Fusion, no one has been able to match the same strength and ferocity in dueling. All of them were stuck with some shitty gimmicks like quiz shows, cooking, rollerskates...all because Yusho believing that duelists should be able to unleash their "true selves" while in dueling. Let's see how those will work if they were forced to duel for their lives. If they see dueling as nothing but a game, then they have no worth in being part of something far greater than their selfish desires of identity and purpose.
So what if one school was becoming stronger? You Show only had three students and three cheerleaders. Reira could defeat those little brats with one Extra Deck method each! Their training and leveling up was too little too late. But as much as Himika wanted them gone, they were necessary. All that was needed was to give them a little push in the direction that will lead them to becoming the icons of the resistance. Like Joan of Arc coming back for more.
"Do you have a Plan B?" Himika inquired.
Reiji grinned. "There's always a Plan B, mother."
----
Nakajima (which was one of many alias he used in the past. Back when he served in Europe, he went by "Claude"), was currently in a phone call with a shady man in a suit, glasses and dark brown hair. It had taken him quite some time to make an appointment with the shady detective, but if the rumors were true, this guy was very good at his job.
He had no idea why Reiji wanted this guy to be involved in whatever schemes were connected to You Show. From what Nakajima has seen, outside the footage of those "Persona", the kids had squeaky clean records. Yuya was a clown with average grades, Yuzu had a bit of a temper and a tendency to smack people with a harisen. Shuzo was the bumbling coach dad, Yoko was the typical housewife with a love of cute animals (outside that history of hers being the legendary Queen of the Sirens. He never mentioned this to Reiji but they did tussle once. Just once. She broke his $500 sunglasses, that asshole!) The kids were from normal families but recently made purchases for decks that were for older children. Better jot that down and have Himika increase Reira's training. He had a funny feeling that Reira could be pulled away by those kids' infectious smiles.
Regardless, he had a job to do as the shadowy servant of the Demon Prince. And that was to finalize a deal with Mr...Zengata, was it?
"Nakajima." The Shady Detective on the other line said, adjusting his glasses. "You seem to be spacing out. Anything the matter?"
Nakajima shook his head. "Nothing of the sort. I just need to know when you will be arriving to Maiami City to begin your investigations."
"I'll be arriving in a few days," The Shady Detective answered. "My assistant and I just need to scour for some more information until then. You'll also be wiring my usual fee into my bank account as well?"
"Absolutely. Leo Corp. shares no expense to get the job done."
"And yet you couldn't have shared a bit of time to ask a child to look at the cards instead of stealing them?"
"...Just fulfill your end of the bargain." Nakajima growled.
"Will do. Inspector Hasegawa out."
The call ended as Nakajima then turned to the other person in the room, staring at him with golden eyes. "And you're sure this man is legit?"
"Zenkichi Hasegawa, or 'The Wolf', as he's called in some circles, never misses a target," Nakajima explained. "If we want answers as to what's brewing in You Show, he's our man. Plus, his skills will also be useful when it comes to rescuing your sister."
Shun clenched his teeth. Yuto was so focused on You Show these days, with that pink haired girl with Ruri's face always with him. How...why...didn't Yuto recognize that Ruri was missing? Kidnapped?! And yet he's getting close to students associated to Yusho?
A part of him was trying to justify Yuto's actions by having his friend go undercover. But if that was the truth, why wasn't Yuto not messaging him about it? Did Yuzu brainwash him or something?!
Shun shook his head. Screw Yuto, screw Yuzu, Yuya, You Show and everyone who wants to duel for smiles! He's going to become a lone wolf confronting the evil, hunting them down till there was nothing left.
Shun inhaled, curling and uncurling his fists. Now was not the time to become hot-headed. "So, what else can you tell me about this Zenkichi?"
----
Zenkichi Hasegawa set his phone down and sighed. Across from him was a young girl with brown hair cooking some okonomiyaki for them both. Here he was, off to celebrate his daughter's birthday and now he was being pulled into another job. Normally, he'd refuse the offer from this third-rate rich boy who's reputation was sinking faster the Titanic, but the video feeds Nakajima emailed him and the strange coincidences circling You Show had him intrigued.
"You have another mission, don't you?" The girl said calmly, dressed in a black school uniform and her bangs tucked back by a red hair clip.
"Unfortunately," Zenkichi sighed, tapping on one of the apps on his phone. "I'm sorry, Akane."
"..."
Calculating a way to make sure his daughter didn't get angry on her special day, Zenkichi immediately had an idea. "Tell you what, how about I have you join me when we go to Maiami City? I know you have a huge crush on Yuya Sakaki."
"...What are you implying?" Akane said, voice mixed with suspicion and curiosity. It's true that she loved seeing Yuya duel against The Sledgehammer in his jester outfit and his Pendulum Summoning. She was also one of the few people in the world who didn't believe in those lies that Yusho was a coward.
"It just so happened that I got you something special for your birthday," Zenkichi continued, moving to the left to show a black paper bag decorated with a red bow on the side. "Got this with a little help from my friend."
Akane was curious as she took the bag into her hands. She stuck her hand into the bag and gasped at what she felt. She pulled out a deck of cards, the one at the bottom making her eyes widen. "No way...is this what I think it is?"
"It is. Sophie was the one who picked the best cards to go with the archetype. What do you say about you going to challenge Yuya in the future?"
"Me? Getting a chance to duel Yuya Sakaki?" Akane said, eyes sparkly. "T...that's the greatest birthday gift ever! Thank you Sophie!"
Zenkichi's phone beeped.
"Praise accepted!" Chirped the voice of a young girl with bright blue eyes and red braided pigtails. She hummed a tune to herself.
Akane kept staring at her cards in awe as Zenkichi looked down at Sophie's face. "Any info on our targets?"
"I've got plenty of information, Zenkichi." Sophie replied. "Would you like to compile that into a file for later?"
"Absolutely. Reiji Akaba being exposed like this after so long has become quite suspicious...kinda like those siblings at the pharmaceutical company."
"The fall of the House of Usher was tragic, but no one will ever connect the dots that you were the one who exposed their corruption." Sophie mentioned.
"And I like to keep it that way. Anyhow, keep me posted on Reiji's dirty laundry will you."
"Will do, Zenkichi. Although, there's another more important matter to keep you posted on."
"....?"
"Ah! Crap! Our food's burning!" Akane yelped.
Zenkichi shouted as he noticed the burnt cabbage pancake between them and did his best to salvage it. Right. Food first, work later.