' Oh hey wait a moment! you dropped this back there, It's a really neat card you got.' The girl smiled, offering said card out to the other. / hiii hope it okay I sent this :'D
βHuh β¦ ?β Judai peers back over his shoulder; first at the girl, and then at the open deck-box by his back pocket. Damned thingβ¦ he reaches to take back the card, inspecting to see which had managed to slip out.
βHane Kuriboh?β Staring into thin air above card, or rather the winged, hairball spirit floating in front of him. Kuri-kuri!Β
βHe says Iβm supposed to say hello,β he says it with a straight face thatβs earned him odd looks before; talking to trading cards seems to have that effect. βThank you for making sure I didnβt lose him.β
He had expected his new life of being a student of duel academy to come with a few hiccups but getting detention on the first day for the new school year was something he didn’t expect to happen. Yusei had gotten everything he needed far as fake documents to live here in this time before even enrolling into the academy which got him into the obelisk dorms, feeling almost uncomfortable at the welcome dinner. being surrounded by richer people or by those who were stuck up and got into those dorms by other means.
he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing though when the professor Chronos was talking down to the slifer red students, having thrown one of his boots right at his head then was down in front of him in a matter of seconds. shouting that he had no right to be talking bad about them like that, remembering how he had grown up and being talked down to. sure it wasn’t anything like this but the same principle still applied here! he wasn’t going to take that kind of thing sitting down and that’s how he ended up in detention for the first day of class, for trying to fight a teacher.
“so this is what detention is like…. well this is boring think i’m going to get out of here.” completely disregarding the fact that he could get into more trouble by leaving but he didn’t care. he wasn’t one to be sitting still for a long time if he wasn’t working on something after all, moving over to the window with his bag before jumping down to the ground below. looking around to make sure he wasn’t spotted by anyone until his gaze fell onto Judai. well judai as he was now to put it better. this wasn’t the judai he had met while dueling paradox, that much he knew. he didn’t see or feel that duel spirit yubel with him so they must not have been together yet. either way it be interesting to see judai grow into the person he had met at that time, just needed to keep quiet about that and it would all be ok.
“you saw nothing.” is all he said to judai, unsure of what else to say at the moment as he realized this looked and was bad but wasn’t going to hide it from the other if they asked questions.
Blink, blink… stuffed-cheeks contort as the red student swallows down a bite that’s been less-than-adequately chewed; the area around his mouth adorned with breadcrumbs and single stray sesame seed.
“Eh… ?” He looks up in the general direction that this guy had fallen from… confused until he considers where he’s at, and where he had been on his way to. Yes, there’s a very clear answer for what he’s just witnessed. No doubt about it, this guy's━━
“Detention’s canceled?! Yatta!”
━━ convinced Professor Chronos that the punishment isn’t necessary. At least, that makes sense in Judai’s head on account of the blue jacket the stranger’s got on. He isn’t thinking about it too hard.
“Hey! I’m gonna go rattle the vending machine around and see if anything comes loose, wanna come?”
He wakes up in a haze; memories a blur with the only clear indicator of passing time being the lingering ache it’s left in him. Familiar pain; like being stretched thin, ripped apart, and glued back together. When he finally pushes himself off of the ground, he finds grass beneath his feet: a sea in the distance, and a gentle breeze whistling through gaps in cement walls. Ignoring the pain throbbing in his head, he stumbles along in an attempt to find his bearings… they come with a shock at the sight of a wanted poster emblazoned with Asuka’s face, charged with treason?
The rise of his internal alarm is enough to shake him out of his haze, to take further note of the surroundings. Cobblestone walkways, campus buildings, the crowds of colored jackets walking in the distance━━━ Academia… ? This isn’t right, though he can’t quite tell how yet. The poster could be an out of place joke, couldn’t it? Observe for now, he thinks.
And that single, resounding thought carries him as he ducks into the crowd pouring through the first door he can find. Everything is similar enough to be eerie, but with an off-twist that continues to rattle him. This place is like a castle… or a labyrinth with the way its hallways seem to twist on into infinity; the things he overhears disgust him, students proudly proclaiming their most sadistic feats. Their decks are hollow things; silent and uniform as if beaten into submission. All but for one voice screaming out above the rest, raging against its confines so viciously it threatens to shake the walls━━━ and he follows it, under the impression that it must have the answer he’s looking for: what the hell this place is.
Through narrow halls, the ends of which are devoid entirely of the bustling crowds he’d found at the entrance. A million ways to lose track of where he’s been until he’s ducked into a small, dark room more reminiscent of a police station than a school. A single overhead lamp and a windowpane looking in on a room with a table: on a man with his hands gripped around a boy’s throat, bruised and bleeding as the man relinquishes his grasp and turns toward a door that leads out into a different hallway. He’s so close now that his ears are practically ringing out with the cries of the spirit locked in that room. Crying for its master?
Judai’s nature has already gotten the best of him, sent him rushing out of the observation room to find whatever door will take him to the poor child he’s just seen abandoned and then crashing through it.
“Are you okay?!”
When the door bangs open against the wall behind it, Yuri’s first impulse is to cover his head with his hands, instinctually anticipating some new whirlwind of blows. He’s only slightly less tense when he sees that it’s another student.
“I’m fine,” he insists, biting his tongue to keep from making noise as he pushes himself into a sitting position. “What do you want?” The tired, bitter tone to his voice is genuine; the last thing he needs to deal with right now is someone seeking a boon or to suck up to him. Nothing comes for free in this place, and he can’t afford to give someone a favor to call in later. Yuri doesn’t begrudge them: how could he when he plays the same game? Still, he’s already short on patience after this long series of humiliations.
It’s hard to see the other student clearly with his vision swimming like this, but there’s definitely something odd about them. It might just be their body language, the bold way they move. Maybe they’re from the intelligence department? That sort were always eccentric. Either way, all it really proves is that he has a minor concussion, backed up by the roar of blood in his ears. He wipes blood from his split lip, hoping to make himself seem less of a wretch.
Yuri doesn’t really notice until they actually enter the room and stand in front of him, but when he does, it makes his face pale a bit. Why does this person seem so powerful? They have the aura of an incredibly strong duelist, but looking at them like this, there’s nothing that would suggest that they were a higher-up or anyone of note. It sets him on edge, like there’s something dangerous lurking underneath their skin.
Beyond Yuri’s senses, he’s not the only presence in the room. Starve Venom screams again, body slamming against the walls in a desperate attempt to get out. The serpent is far too large for the room, and its claws scratch the walls with each movement. Despite the obvious power of the dragon, in this small dimly lit room, it resembles a trapped rat.
Even beyond the immediate situation of the two, Starve Venom seems in ill health. Its scales are dull and there are a few obvious scars that leave a crack in its armor. Thrashing like this, it seems less a newly caged wild beast and more like a lion in a zoo pacing the bounds of its pen for the hundredth time.
All of Judai’s momentum halted on a dime; rubber-soles scrape against the cold, stone floor. A thousand-yard stare right through the room because he’s in awe of what he sees━━━━ this child, battered and bruised… and the spirit that shares in his abuse. The massive form half-enshrouded in shadow and half-casting it, jagged teeth exposed and running over with sickly green spittle. He can feel the blind rage radiating off it, ready to snap at the first sign of offense. A cornered snake.
Palm open, hand extended toward the boy as Judai’s gaze is reaffixed to him. “Here,” he offers. “I’ll help. Who did that to you?”
He speaks as calmly as if they’d just finished a friendly game, as if every word the boy has spat wasn’t as bitingly poisonous as the drool spilling from his partner. Judai isn’t ignorant of it either but it’s the furthest thing from deterring when he’s won people over from things far worse than a bad attitude… and besides, this seems like his best opportunity to get some understanding of what this place is.
This situation was all Yuri’s fault. That much was clear, there was nobody to yell at or shift the blame too. It was his misjudgment of the target that had let them escape into the rat’s nest of Heartland’s underground along with important intelligence about the Academia’s movements. Yuri nods along, eyes downcast, quietly agreeing with whatever his superior officer yells at him. There’s no point in struggling now; the scent of blood only draws more sharks.
He can’t say he’s expecting it when the officer grabs him by the hair and slams his forehead against the table, but it certainly wasn’t out of the question. Really, he’s still getting off lightly so far. When his superior barks in his face to ask if he’s listening, Yuri looks at him with slightly dazed eyes and replies, “Yes sir,” even though his attention keeps wandering off. Probably the new head injury.
It seems like forever before the energy of the meeting starts to wane, and by then Yuri has taken a couple more punches at least. The officer finally seems to get too blue in the face for his own taste and leaves after a few more threats, leaving Yuri alone on the floor of the interrogation room. When he checks his face, it seems like his lip really is split, and he frowns at that. At least as his fingers work his way down his body, nothing seems injured enough that he’d need outside medical attention.
Were he still a child, Yuri would probably have cried. Now, he just feels exhausted and frustrated with himself. It’s as if they’ve already bled him dry of anything left of value in his body. He just doesn’t want to die, and this is what it’s cost him. …Yuri decides he’s too tired to stand right now, so he just stays lying on the floor for now, resolving to get up after he’s caught his breath. There’s a two way mirror on the wall, but he doubts anyone would find a scene like this interesting enough to watch.
He wakes up in a haze; memories a blur with the only clear indicator of passing time being the lingering ache it’s left in him. Familiar pain; like being stretched thin, ripped apart, and glued back together. When he finally pushes himself off of the ground, he finds grass beneath his feet: a sea in the distance, and a gentle breeze whistling through gaps in cement walls. Ignoring the pain throbbing in his head, he stumbles along in an attempt to find his bearings… they come with a shock at the sight of a wanted poster emblazoned with Asuka’s face, charged with treason?
The rise of his internal alarm is enough to shake him out of his haze, to take further note of the surroundings. Cobblestone walkways, campus buildings, the crowds of colored jackets walking in the distance━━━ Academia… ? This isn’t right, though he can’t quite tell how yet. The poster could be an out of place joke, couldn’t it? Observe for now, he thinks.
And that single, resounding thought carries him as he ducks into the crowd pouring through the first door he can find. Everything is similar enough to be eerie, but with an off-twist that continues to rattle him. This place is like a castle… or a labyrinth with the way its hallways seem to twist on into infinity; the things he overhears disgust him, students proudly proclaiming their most sadistic feats. Their decks are hollow things; silent and uniform as if beaten into submission. All but for one voice screaming out above the rest, raging against its confines so viciously it threatens to shake the walls━━━ and he follows it, under the impression that it must have the answer he’s looking for: what the hell this place is.
Through narrow halls, the ends of which are devoid entirely of the bustling crowds he’d found at the entrance. A million ways to lose track of where he’s been until he’s ducked into a small, dark room more reminiscent of a police station than a school. A single overhead lamp and a windowpane looking in on a room with a table: on a man with his hands gripped around a boy’s throat, bruised and bleeding as the man relinquishes his grasp and turns toward a door that leads out into a different hallway. He’s so close now that his ears are practically ringing out with the cries of the spirit locked in that room. Crying for its master?
Judai’s nature has already gotten the best of him, sent him rushing out of the observation room to find whatever door will take him to the poor child he’s just seen abandoned and then crashing through it.
/ when referring to yubel in response’s, i’ll be mostly using she / they pronouns, as to be reflective of judai ( at least, in the crunchyroll subtitles ) always referring to yubel as she.
but, like, if that seems incorrect to anyone i’m more than willing to adjust my writing.
this depiction of judai will default to post
━ gx! but, during plotting, if you’d prefer a different timeline such as a particular season of the anime (or his depiction in the manga) that can be discussed. i’ll be adding some verses as soon as i can get around to writing them out: if there’s a verses tab on my main page when you read this, then i’ve already done so.
in my writing, i’ll be using the japanese names for all of the characters ( unless your portrayal is using one of the american dub names, in which case i’ll refer to them by that name ) and i’d prefer that he not be referred to as jaden during interactions. it’s not a huge deal, but the characterization differs so greatly between the two iterations that i basically separate them entirely, and i suppose it’s a little bit of a pet peeve.
SHIPPING:
i have a preference for canon characters, but am definitely willing to write something romantic in nature with an original character if our writing meshes well together and the two characters mesh well enough. please ask if you are interested in writing a ship with me.
as for canon characters i really enjoy like all of the notable ships involving judai and am more than willing to write any of them. with that said, i’ll note the few that i’m particularly interested in.
don’t force a ship; if you’re interested in writing something of that nature, please ask first
━ i’ll probably say yes anyhow.
patience would be appreciated: i can be a bit slow with replies. i won’t ignore anyone, i just have adhd and part of that is executive dysfunction which kind of kicks my ass.
if i’ve left anything vague and you’re curious, feel free to message me and ask about it!
