#teenage girls dress by Celina

[eff4freddie]

After She Left | Five

Words: 6k

Preparations for Jackson's first ever prom are well underway, and even Ellie is helping out. As Jackson's only teacher it is, of course, your job to run the show and you'd be more than capable if one parent didn't keep distracting you.

Chapter warnings: Illusions to smut, slow burn, angsty memories of being a teenager, 'She' finally arrives. Minors DNI.

A/N: Ok, second act kicks off after this chapter. You'll get a glimpse of what that means now. Hope you enjoy!

Four | Series Masterlist | Six

Your dreams were changing. Used to waking with a chill, the echoes of loss and the face of your sister blurred in the grey clouds streaking across your dreamscape, you’d started to wake now with a warmth, a vein of light. You felt it on your skin like the first spring day out of a long, cold winter. You’d wake trying to grip its tail as it slipped from you.

The prom thing was your idea, and you only half regretted it. You’d had the idea when Isaiah had asked you what school for you was like, so fascinated by the before times, the kids trying hard to imagine classroom upon classroom filled with students all of the same age. You’d tried to explain that school wasn’t anything, really, that sometimes you didn’t even go because it was so boring, and they gawped at you, disbelieving. You felt a little sliver of shame at having wasted it, reminded yourself that was what you were supposed to do at age 14.

You’d mentioned prom, and there had been a ripple of interest throughout the room.

‘So, there was dancing? But it wasn’t the whole town, it was just you and your friends?’

‘Well, there were teachers and parents as chaperones, but…yeah, there were so many of us that it was just each grade. We got all dressed up, we had our picture taken, we had to choose dates.’

‘You went with a boy?’ Celina piped up from the front row, her nine-year-old face scandalised by the idea that you would willingly expose yourself to boy germs.

‘Yeah, well, some girls had boyfriends in their grade.’

‘Did you have a boyfriend?’ someone asked, the judgement almost silent, and you knew without looking that it was Ellie.

‘No, I didn’t. I had a crush on a boy, but it didn’t really…’

You remembered him, even now, an actual apocalypse not enough to erase the shame. You’d let your friends talk you into a promposal, standing in the bleachers as he ran track with an enormous sign that you’d spent far too many hours painting at your bestie’s kitchen table. It had heart-shaped glitter. You were especially proud of that detail.

You hadn’t realised that the entire track team would also see it, that you would need to specifically point him out in the crowd. Never had you imagined that he would dodge away from your finger, pretending to hide behind another boy, dodging your desire for him while his teammates laughed. It was enough to shrivel your heart into coal. You’re not sure you ever recovered.

You said none of that in your Jackson classroom. Instead, you focused on the decorations, that there was always a theme, that you heard the high school two towns over got Nelly Furtado to play live at theirs, but you weren’t convinced that was any more than an urban legend. They had no idea who Nelly Furtado was. You didn’t try to explain.

‘So can we have one?’ Mika asked, finally looking up from his comic book. You hadn’t thought he was paying attention.

‘A prom? Well, I’d have to talk to the town council.’

‘Tommy’s my uncle, I got an in,’ Ellie said, her face lighting up with the power of being connected, such nepotism so rare as the last vestiges of civilisation withered.

The kids grinned up at you, and you realised that maybe this was something they needed. Jackson already did Christmas, blew eggs, painted them with bees wax and dye from mashed beets and honey, and held a hunt on the first weekend of what the town council’s best guess was April. You could get the kids to decorate with paper flowers. It would be really cute to watch them decorate the mess hall, and there was probably some kind of educational value in it, too.

--

From his post, Joel watched Guillaume and Jonah, his new patrol partner, disappear into the treeline. He watched them, a little nugget of shame festering in the depths of his belly, but mostly – if he allowed himself to admit it – he was happy to have been moved to shifts on the wall. It meant he wasn’t back so late for Ellie, that he could be home to help with her homework or make her help him make dinner, and he didn’t feel so paranoid all the time when he could see the horizon. He didn’t mind the early starts, preferred the quiet up there, liked being able to turn and survey the town as much as the wilds outside it.

If he turned and leaned over a little, up on one foot on the top rung of the ladder, and leaned a little to the right he could make out the path heading up to the schoolhouse. When Billy asked him what he was doing, he explained he wanted to make sure his girl got to school OK. He generally, for the most part, broadly speaking, was referring to Ellie.

Tommy had been nice to enough not to give him shit for it, even after a bloody-nosed Guillaume took it upon himself to point out that Joel was a liability out there. Tommy had appeared on his doorstep the next morning, his brows crowding together, but Joel had spent most of the early morning on the wall, had imagined you lying in bed as he made sure to keep the nastiness away from you, and he was more ready than his little brother expected to hang up his boots.

‘M’getting older, Tommy, we talked about that,’ Joel reminded him, and Tommy nodded.

‘Still the best shot we got, and the best survivalist.’

‘Don’t mean I can’t advise if anyone asks it of me,’ he said. ‘S’not even that hard, just gotta keep your wits about ya.’ He thought for a long moment. ‘Maybe it’s gettin’ harder, now I think about it,’ he conceded.

‘Well, so long as you’re agreeable,’ Tommy said, shuffling awkwardly.

‘What would’ya have done if I wasn’t?’ Joel asked, a crooked grin forming on his face.

‘Would have taken you off patrol, but mighta felt a little bad about it,’ Tommy answered, earnest. Joel scoffed.

‘You’d pull rank, Town Councilman?’

‘Yes’sir, I would,’ Tommy said, no less earnest. Joel nodded at him.

‘Good,’ he affirmed, and saw the way Tommy expanded under the praise of his big brother. ‘You do what’s right for Jackson, always,’ Joel said, and Tommy agreed.

It was cold up there, though, the windchill on his face and his fingertips causing his whole body to tremor in his coat. It was Spring, but it was turning out to be a cold one, not a lot of warmth getting around the mountain. Joel shuffled his feet, trying to get the feeling back in his toes a little. He hadn’t brought his big coat, thinking the sun would be enough to keep him warm, but now that it was nearing the end of the day, the sun disappearing below the mountain ridge, he was counting every minute until he could clamber down and warm up.

He knew you’d be at his place already, working with Ellie at his kitchen table now that the heat had gone out of the day. He was going to try and make his beef stew tonight, had practically begged the kitchen staff to let him have a side of the meat. He hadn’t resorted to violence, but he would have.

He just wanted to thank you for everything you were doing for his daughter. Wanted to nourish your body the way you were nourishing her mind.

Billy called up to him from the bottom of the ladder. ‘Come on down, Joel, night shift’s here.’ Casting one last glance at the treeline, he vaulted down the ladder to rungs at a time.

--

You’d held a democratic process to determine the theme for the prom, but Ellie had dominated it anyway, either unfamiliar with, or just straight up unwilling to, compromise. As the day grew closer you gave up any pretence of tutoring her, working instead on cutting out yellow paper stars at Joel’s kitchen table.

‘Why does the moon change?’ Ellie asked, one day, and you’d paused for a second. You weren’t sure how bad FEDRA school was by the time she was in it, but that seemed fundamental.

‘Well, I mean, you know we’re a planet, right? That we’re like, a big round ball? Floating in the sky?’ Ellie levelled an impatient gaze at you, and you swallowed.

‘Do you think I’m an idiot?’ she asked, and you thought very hard and very fast.

‘I think you’re brilliant and FEDRA school is terrible,’ you said, diplomatically. She softened, her cheeks pinking up a little.

‘Can’t argue with you there,’ she said, quietly.

‘I mean, how much did they teach you about planets?’

‘Sweet fuck all,’ she said, plainly, and you wanted to tell her not to swear but she was in her own house, and it felt like the horse had bolted long ago in any case. ‘But I read about it as much as I can.’

‘The moon?’

‘All space… being that high up where nothing can, no-one up there who can…it’s just so cool. Were you alive when they landed on it?’

‘Ellie, that was the 60s,’ you complained, waiting for her to do the mental maths and wondering how old she thought you were, or if all adults were just ‘old’ to her, a kind of non-descript age in which you are both responsible for everything and also mere moments from shuffling off into death.

She stared at you blankly. ‘I wasn’t born for another like, twenty years,’ you said.

She nodded. ‘Oh.’

‘A lot of people didn’t even believe we really did land on the moon,’ you said. You picked up another piece of paper, your pile of stars nearly double the size of Ellie’s. She wasn’t being careful, her general distractedness was making her slow.

‘What? But wasn’t it on TV?’

‘Yes, it was, but they said it was faked.’ Her eyes blew wide at this, and you realised she was considering it. ‘Ellie, there’s no way it was faked. There are footprints up there that’ll be there forever.’

‘Guess we’ll never know, now,’ she said, quietly, and you suddenly wondered whether the space theme was such a good idea, after all, whether you were tormenting the kids with something they would never see, never have even the smallest chance to explore.’

‘Ellie…’ you said, but she wasn’t looking at you anymore, concentrating hard on her paper star.

‘It’s ok, it’ll be fun to pretend for the night,’ she said. ‘There’s a lot of pretending, won’t be too hard.’

You wanted to ask her what she meant, who she thought was pretending, but you heard heavy footsteps on the front porch and knew Joel was home. You felt your cheeks flush, your hands picking up a little tremble that make it hard to grip your scissors.

‘Hello, ladies,’ Joel said, and when you looked up, he was grinning at you both from the doorway, his hands criss-crossed over his chest as he leant on the frame. It was a domestic enough moment that you had to fight the impulse to go over to him and welcome him properly, into your arms. Ellie barely acknowledged him, because she was 14.

‘What are we making?’ he asked, picking up one of Ellie’s ‘stars’ and genuinely requiring clarification. You winced a little at it. Perhaps it could go towards the back.

‘Prom decorations,’ Ellie said, and she still seemed a little down. You watched her, carefully, trying to determine if she’d already lit her fuse.  

‘Oh, I won’t interrupt,’ Joel said, raising his hands, feeling something in the air. ‘You stayin’ to eat, Teach?’ he asked, and he hoped his voice didn’t make him sound too eager, didn’t give him away.

‘I don’t want to be a bother,’ you said, just like you always did.

‘Oh my God!’ Ellie sighed, throwing her star down in front of her and pushing her chair back. ‘Just say yes, you always end up staying anyway.’

‘Ellie!’ Joel barked at her, and she huffed, her shoulders so high they nearly touched her ears.

‘It’s true, you guys do all this polite bullshit and for what? Just say what you want and then you can get it. It’s not so hard.’

You looked over at Joel, who was staring at his likely hormonal teenager with a perplexed look on his face. You took a second to gather yourself.

‘I would love to stay for dinner, Joel, but one of these days I want you to let me cook for you both.’

Joel paused, considering this. Eyes still on Ellie, who was still quietly fuming, he nodded his head, once. ‘I would like that, Teach,’ he said, his careful tone that of every bewildered teenage-girl-Dad the world over. ‘Ellie, I want you to go wash up before dinner, then I want you to peel the carrots.’

She stood up, stomping to the washroom. You concentrated hard on the paper in your hands, hoping it was enough to stifle your smile.

‘I want to know what the fuck that was about,’ Joel said to you, but smiling.

‘I want to remind you there’s nothing worse than being a teenage girl,’ you replied.

--

You stood, wobbling on the end of a step ladder, hanging up the stars. Tommy found some string lights and put them up around the mess hall, and Johnny and his assembly of post-apocalyptic musicians set up in the corner. You and Tommy had already pushed all the tables back against the wall to make a dance floor. As you worked, he regaled you with his favourite memories of his own prom, most of which seemed to involve trying to get up the skirt of someone called Tammy Schmidt. She’d never let him anywhere near her, and you told Tommy to his face she was right to do it.

‘You would have been Tommy and Tammy,’ you said, and he started to giggle. Actually giggle.

‘That was the appeal!’ he said, sheepish. ‘I figured it sounded like those made-up celebrity names.’

‘Brangelina,’ you said, and he grinned.

‘Tomammy,’ he replied, and you rolled your eyes.

After everything was set up you went home to get dressed, pulling out a little black number foraged from the bottom of Maria’s wardrobe. She had complained she was never going to get back into it, and you had waved her off. It made you feel silly and out of place and pretty and ridiculous, and you liked the way it swished when you walked. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d swished anywhere. It felt so normal you weren’t sure you could trust it.

When you arrived back at the mess hall the lights had been dimmed, and Johnny and his band were starting to warm up. With the lights down and the paper streamers and stars you could forget for a moment it wasn’t a normal prom, a real one. You felt a surge of pride in your belly, looked around at the tangible good.

You heard the doors to the mess hall swing open, followed by shrieks and laughter and multiple sets of rapidly advancing feet.

‘Oh my god it’s so amazing!’ Mika said, his face illuminated by the warm glow of the string lights, of the smile stretching his cheeks.

‘This is cool,’ Dina said, quietly, up the back, and you grinned. Something in you, some teenage part of you, was quietly relieved.

More kids arrived, some trailed by their parents, and you busied yourself setting up the orange juice and cola station. The kitchen had done little sandwiches and finger food and you wanted to make sure the kids ate, worried you’d send them home on empty stomachs and sugar pinging through their veins. That their parents would never forgive you, and that they would be right.

As soon as the band started up you stepped back, letting the kids swarm the plates and start to dance. You wanted to join them but you also felt a pull back to the edge of the room, kept thinking you were seeing snatches of your sister in the half-light, of you as a girl. You weren’t sure what the feeling was, some kind of melancholic nostalgia, some kind of longing for something that didn’t make sense to you. You’d never even liked prom that much, had mostly just gone because everyone else was. But it was different seeing one from the other side: from the other side of adolescences, from the other side of the end of the world. It felt precious and sad and joyful, and you weren’t sure if you wanted to turn away from it or bottle it up and store it safe under the bed.

You kept wondering if this was what your 14-year-old self ever envisioned for herself, if she could have envisioned anything so apocalyptic at all.

The doors swung open again, and you exhaled the breath you didn’t realise you were holding when Ellie strode in, almost skipping, her face titled up to the ceiling to see all her decorations hanging in the rafters. ‘Holy shit!’ you heard her exclaim, and you cringed a little, trying to avoid the eyes of the parents. You would have to speak to her about that, eventually.

You turned to pour yourself a juice, the acid tingling at the back of your teeth, before you heard heavy footsteps behind you, even over the thrum of the music and of Ellie grabbing Mika and swinging him around the dancefloor.

‘Hey, Teach,’ Joel said, his baritone rumbling out from his chest. You suppressed a shiver.

‘Joel,’ you turned to him, allowing the surprise to show on your face. ‘What are you doing here?’ You were ignoring that he was standing in black suit pants and a white shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, maybe a size too big, you couldn’t be sure. He’d done his hair, or had made an attempt at it, maybe running water through it and in the humidity of the room it had started to curl. You were alarmed at how distinctly you wanted to lean forward and sink your teeth into his neck, to lave at the skin there, to feel his pulse with your tongue.

You swallowed, the juice catching in your throat and making you splutter. Suddenly Joel was beside you, an enormous warm hand between your shoulder blades as you fought, doubled over, for breath.

‘Easy, easy,’ he was saying, and you wanted to slam your eyes shut and imagine him whispering exactly that as he slid inside you, as he rocked into you and felt your cunt quiver around his length. Jesus Christ, you were going to spontaneously combust.

‘Sorry, went down the wrong hole,’ you said, fluttering your hand in front of your face in the hope it would ward him off somewhat. As you straightened, he let his hand slide down your spine and away just as he reached the small of your back, and you felt your spine arch towards where his touch had been.

Fucks sake, you needed to get it together. You were like some horny teenager at, well, prom.

‘Tommy had something he needed to do at home, something with the baby.’

‘Is he OK? Is Maria Ok?’

‘Yeah, they’re fine, the baby just has a sniffle and I believe Maria’s exact words were “you’re not going out there to watch teenagers marinate in their hormones while I sit at home being snotted on by your crotch fruit”.’

You gaped at him. ‘Maria did not say crotch fruit.’

‘Might have put my spin on that bit,’ Joel said, grinning.

For his part, Joel was watching your eyes so that he wouldn’t look down at your dress, a little black flitty number that came up to your knees and down close enough on your chest that when you leant over trying to get your breath he had to move away to resist the urge to stare at the swell of your breasts, instead coming to stand beside you and placing his hand on your back just to try and keep himself standing. You were so fuckin’ pretty, done your hair all up nice. He wanted to swivel you around, tuck you into his chest and nibble on the nape of your neck, put his nose in your hair and inhale as he flipped that silly little skirt over your rear, letting one hand wonder over your cheeks as he slid further down, cupping and probing, into the slick between your legs.

Christ on a cracker, he needed to get it together. He was behaving like Tommy at, well, prom.

‘Place looks great,’ he said, his voice slightly strangled. You gazed up at him, taking a second to comprehend his words.

‘Thanks, Ellie did amazing work with the stars,’ you said, and you knew he knew you were lying, and you also knew he was a good enough Dad that he was going to let you get away with it.

‘She certainly has her own style,’ Joel replied, eyeing one particularly wonky cutout you had strategically placed in a dark corner.

You turned to watch the kids dance, Ellie’s hair bouncing around her face as she twisted her hips, holding Mika’s hand as she did.

‘She’s really gravitated towards him,’ you commented, and you looked over at Joel just in time to see a cloud pass over his face.

‘He probably reminds her of…’ he said, but then he trailed off, recalibrated. ‘He’s a sweet kid, so it makes sense,’ he finished.

‘Oh, speaking of sweet, Billy loves having you on the wall,’ you said, smiling at him and watching him blush.

‘What do you mean?’ he asked, and you swore you could see genuine anxiety on his face.

‘Big Bad Joel Miller helping out? Billy getting to tell you what to do? He’s like a pig in shit.’

Joel could feel the heat on his cheeks and was powerless to stop it. ‘Big Bad Joel Miller,’ he echoed, feeling the words on his tongue, seeing how they tasted. ‘Not sure about that.’

‘You must know there are stories,’ you said, leaning into him a little, goading him a little, wanting to see if you could get him to crack and tell you something about himself.

‘Don’t pay any of that much mind,’ he said. ‘Don’t reckon any of ‘em are close to the truth.’

‘Well, no they can’t be,’ you agreed, quickly, feeling like the conversation was slipping from you and not really knowing why.

‘Not sure there are words for some of the shit I’ve…seen,’ he said, and he saw the shift in your face, the shock before you covered it, and he knew that he’d scared you a little, but there were things he didn’t want to talk about, shit that he’d had to do to get Ellie here, to get her to be able to forget the cost of it all. Big Bad Joel Miller. No one had any fucking clue.

He looked over at you, at the way you had sunk into yourself, and he cursed himself. You were too sweet, too warm, and he’d gone and thrown a wet rag on your fire. If you knew about him you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him. He took a step back, too. You’d made him forget for a second, that he was no good to anyone. Especially not to someone like you.

You were lost in your thoughts, watching the kids again but not really seeing. It wasn’t even what Joel had said, although you felt the way he was pushing you away, and you went willingly. It was that as he spoke you realised, finally realised, what the feeling was that had been pulling at you all night.

You were fucking lonely. 14-year-old you might have been OK with the QZ stuff, with what you had to do to survive, with keeping your sister alive along as you could, with making sure her death meant something, even just until they cleared her body away. 14-year-old you might have even been OK with the teaching, although that would take some convincing. But the fact that you were alone, that you were nearing 40 and hadn’t ever really loved anyone other than your family, hadn’t ever really had anyone love you. OK, so you hadn’t married Jonathan Taylor Thomas, in the circumstances maybe for that you got a pass. But that you weren’t with anyone, that you had wanted love for yourself and never got it, that you had wanted to belong in that most specific way and you hadn’t, hadn’t ever really come home. 14-year-old you was screaming and howling and gnashing her teeth. You’d failed her, failed the both of you.

You were horrified to feel a tightness across your throat, the heat building behind your eyes. You needed to get away from all these people, needed to go and pity yourself in peace.

‘I just need some air,’ you said, barely above a whisper, pushing past Joel with your face turned away lest he see your eyes growing redder and wetter by the second.

‘Teach…’ he called after you, but you were gone, heading straight to the door, not seeing Ellie turn to follow Joel’s voice, to see you making a break for it, turning back to him with her hands in the air.

Joel felt his stomach drop, staring back at Ellie with panic written all over his face.

‘What did you do?’ she mouthed to him, and he shrugged, helpless. He’d pushed you away, had shut you down, had been rude and cruel and cold. But he had no idea how to mouth that to his teenage daughter across a dance floor. ‘GO AFTER HER’ Ellie whisper-screamed at him, and it jolted him, got his feet moving before he’d even given it another thought.

You were standing under the awning a couple of paces from the door, leaning on the railing and sucking in the chill of the air. You realised when you heard the door swing open that you’d cornered yourself, cursed yourself for getting all your years in the QZ.

‘Teach,’ he said, and you hung your head. ‘M’sorry, I didn’t mean to…’

‘Wasn’t you, wasn’t that, I just…I needed to breathe for a second.’

Joel paused, watching the way your shoulders rose and fell, sharp and insistent, as you gathered yourself.

He took a step forward towards you, saw the way you flinched and turned away, and stopped, deciding instead to sit on the steps, giving you space but not too much, distance but enough that he could reach out for you if you wanted him to.

‘I did a lot of things to get here,’ he said, after a while. The hair stood up on the back of your neck. ‘I ain’t ashamed of ‘em, I’d do ‘em all again to keep her safe, you understand?’ he asked, and you nodded, still with your back half-turned. ‘Never regretted getting her here, both of us, to safety and to family.’ You nodded again. You knew all of this, had lived all of this, but you didn’t stop him, couldn’t turn to look at him, just let him talk because you couldn’t think of a single thing to say. ‘What bothers me, Teach, is that Big Bad Joel Miller might be too old to do ‘em again.’

You felt a pull towards him, turned your body to peer at his face. He was staring down main street, avoiding looking at you, too.

‘What if I can’t keep her safe?’ he asked, almost to himself. You swallowed, moving towards him, sucked into his gravitational pull. As you sank down beside him on the step, he shuffled to make room for you, but you didn’t want distance, leaning further over so that your shoulders touched. He was so warm even in the chill of the night. You wanted him to take your hands and blow warm breath onto them, smile and put them on his chest to warm them even though the cold of your skin stung him.

‘She’s so capable, Joel,’ you said. ‘You did that. She’ll keep herself safe, soon.’

‘She’s just a kid,’ Joel said, but he wasn’t attacking, just stating a fact.

‘I wasn’t much older on outbreak day,’ you said, simply.

‘Lotsa girls her age weren’t so lucky,’ he replied, quiet.

Blood smattered all over a pink and purple tee-shirt. Curls caked in blood and mud. He swallowed.

‘I know that,’ you said, after a while. Joel watched your face. He saw that it was true, that you knew.

‘S’what was it, if it wasn’t me being so rude to ya?’ he asked, after a long silence that would have made his bones itch if he’d been sharing it with anyone else but you. You shied away a little, and he watched as you started to recede. ‘Hey,’ he said, reprising the conversation from the night at the kitchen table. ‘I want you to tell me what’s up,’ he said, and you smiled, faintly, recognising what he was doing.

‘Prom, I guess. Memories. I don’t know.’ You paused, tried to form the words. ‘It’s all about promise, isn’t it, being a kid and being in high school and doing all of these…rites of passages. There’s an assumption about how things will go. We all make ‘em, made ‘em. Guess it’s hard when they didn’t come true.’

Joel nodded. He wanted to pull you into his lap and rock you, gentle and soft in the night, feel your warm breath on his neck as you pushed your fingertips through the buttonholes of his shirt.

‘Most of the time I’m OK,’ you went on, trying to repair it, slink back under your shell, your slimy snail body suddenly exposed to the elements.

‘Everyone’s OK til they ain’t.’ Joel said. He turned to look at you, swivelled his body to yours so that your knees rested against his. His eyes were so deep and dark in the streetlights, his brows saddled as he petitioned you. ‘I don’t mind it, Teach. You can be all of it with me.’

You felt your heart gallop in your chest, heat suddenly in your belly.

‘So can you, Big Bad Joel Miller,’ you told him, smiling but earnest, wanting him to believe it was true. ‘I’ll take whatever you got,’ you said.

There was a moment, Joel knew, when he could pull back from it. That this was that moment, when he could turn away from you, could crack a joke or make some excuse to head back inside. Could get up and bolt for the gate, swing it open and face whatever demons were out in the darkness so as not to have to face his own. He knew this was the moment of no return, for him.

He looked down at your lips, painted red for prom and so soft, so plump. Your skin soft and glowing so gently in the light. How many more times was he going to have to resist you by porchlight? How many times could he?

‘Joel…’ you whispered, edging yourself closer to him, leaning in without even really thinking about it, watching him mirror you and Joel knew the moment had passed, that your little whimper of his name was branded on his chest, that he would parade it around town for you, would bare it to anyone who wanted to lay their claim.

Your hair was soft, so soft, in his palms as he pulled you into him, his lips crashing into yours, your mouth opening to welcome him, tongue dancing across his. He groaned, from deep down in his belly, for the want of it, for the way his tummy flipped at his first taste of you.

You were pretty sure you were dead. It was the only explanation. But if this was heaven then so fucking be it, because Joel was cupping your face in his hands, and his kiss was insistent and gentle and he was guiding you through it, teasing you open as you felt the hinge of your jaw creak under the pressure of your want for him. You weren’t sure you were breathing. You weren’t sure you cared.

He was pulling you closer, wrapping his arms around your back and pulling you into him, the weird angle meaning both sets of knees were in the way. You considered vaulting over the top of him, riding him on the steps of the mess hall while a bunch of teenagers supposedly under your charge danced under paper stars, but you had the wherewithal to hold back, to pry yourself from him, to lean your forehead on his and catch your breath.

Granted, you didn’t have a lot of experience. But you’d never had a kiss that felt like that.

‘Teach,’ Joel said, so quiet and just for you, and you could hear that he was out of breath, that his chest was heaving, that he was fighting it back just as hard as you. He lifted his head and gazed at you, the look of naked desire on his face such that you wanted it to be photographed, painted, hung in a gallery and studied by future generations.

Then, alarms. And yes, you thought, that felt about right. Everything had just shifted off its axis, after all, it made sense that the universe was now screaming.

Except it sounded weirdly familiar. Kind of like the one that you pulled when there was a problem at the gate.

You turned your head down main street as you saw the flood lights come on. You were up, Joel just behind you, as you and your little swishy dress headed towards it, front doors ripping open around you, men and women pulling on jackets over their pyjamas, arming themselves for war.

‘State your business!’ you heard Billy yell from the top of the gate, his rifle trained at a hard angle just beneath him. Jesus, they were close, you realised. Nearly right up on the iron.

You couldn’t hear the reply, vaulting up the ladder without thinking, without a weapon, leaving Joel to defend the gate.

‘State your business!’ Billy called again, and you came up beside him, peeping over the edge to report back on what you could see. There were three of them, that you could see from here. You scanned the treeline, the floodlights turning the trees into fingers scratching harsh at the night sky.

‘Where they come from, Billy?’ you asked, and he gestured with his head over to the right. You picked up the binoculars and scanned.

‘Can’t see any others,’ you reported back, going to the other side and holding up three fingers to the crowd.

‘We’re just passing through,’ the man called back, ‘saw your lights and thought…we’re injured.’

‘Injured how?’ Billy called. You could hear murmuring beneath you, a plan being hatched.

‘One of us is a woman. We were ambushed. They took everything we have, nearly took her but she got away.’

You peered down over the gate, could see that a woman was indeed holding her arm in a sling, her face pale. She was wavering, like she was ready to collapse.

You heard footsteps on the ladder, felt it sway the wall as Tommy appeared beside you.

‘Whatdya reckon?’ he asked you, his eyes focussed but his breath coming in short and fast.

‘They’re telling the truth so far,’ you said, ‘best I can tell.’

You stepped out of the way, Tommy taking your place at the wall while Billy stayed fixed, his gun unwavering from the strangers.

You heard a gasp, a kind of choking shock. ‘No fucking way,’ Tommy said, and you peered over his shoulder again, trying to figure out what he could see. ‘Shauna?’ he called down, the woman’s face snapping up to him, a shaky hand covering her eyes to make him out.

‘Tommy?’ she asked, as though she was dead and found herself at the gates of heaven, surprisingly less gilded than expected. You swallowed, saw Billy’s hold on the gun waver.

‘Open the gates!’ Tommy called, before turning back to the strangers. ‘Hands up and come forward slowly, I’ll meet you there.’

‘Who is that, Tommy?’ you asked him, grabbing at him as he made to hurry past.

‘It’s Shauna,’ he said, his face pale and disbelieving. ‘Where’s Joel?’

‘Who the fuck is Shauna?’ you asked, every nerve ending screaming.

‘She’s Sarah’s mom,’ he said, before he disappeared down the ladder, calling for Joel as he went.

‘Who the fuck is Sarah?’ Billy said to you, his gun lowered but eyeballing the group all the same.

You had no idea.

Taglist (let me know if you want to be on it)

@harriedandharassed

@vickie5446

@kaseyconnour

@orcasoul

@missladym1981

@spacesoutdaydreamer

@tangled-tumbler-blog-blog

@fancyyoouu

@anoverwhelmingdin

[danicadenniss]

Totally Spies 2024: Clover

Fullname: Luna Rosalie Lewis

Aliases/Nickname: Clover, Luz

Age: 14

Dates Of Birth: February 9th, 2010

Gender: Female

Height: 5'1 (188cm)

Ethnicity: European (part English, part Irish, part French)

Eyes Color: Ocean Blue

Hair Color: Light Reddish Blonde/Magenta Ombre

Complexion: Fair Skin (a little pale complexion)

Skin Type: a light brown beauty mark under her right eye

Homes: Beverly Hills, California (Born in London, England)

Religion: Catholic

Occupation: Beverley Hills High School Student, Beverly Vista Middle School Student (formerly graduate), Elementary School Student at Saint Christina School (formerly, graduated), Spy, WHOOP Agent,

Hobbies: Sketching, Drawing, Artworks, Reading, Studying, Listening To Christian Music, Spies & Noir podcasts including Cybersix, Going to Church with her family, Hanging out with her friends and family, Designing styles and spy suits, Piano lessons, Spending quiet time before bed/during Study Hall, Cheerleadering, FCA Club, Enjoy some afternoon tea, every afternoon

Goals: To become an artist/fashiondesigner, To save the world from threat

Favorite Color: Red, Burgundy, Magenta, Hot Pink

Family Members: Lawrence Lewis (father), Stella Cambridge (mother), Serena Celestia Lewis (older sister), Selene Iris Lewis (younger sister), Gerald Charles Lewis, Trent Lewis (paternal uncles), Charles Lewis III (paternalgrandfather), Grace Lewis (neè LaBride, paternal grandmother), Charles Lewis II+ (paternal great grandfather), Celina Lewis+ (neè Wale, paternal great grandmother), Charles Lewis I+ (paternal 2nd great grandfather), Cassandra Lewis (neè Spencer, 2nd great grandmother)

Role in the team: European Stylist Leader of the groups

Best Friends: Samantha Nyad Simpsons, Akari Yui Huang, Britney Kaiya Chopra, Dean Ace Simpsons, David Diego Rodriguez, Blaine Kai Huang

Rivals: Candace Margaret Sweet, Amanda Erica Xhanos, Sarah Dominique, Caitlin Kelly Thompson, Marvin Robert Smith-Xhanos, Tim Erin Scam, Chet & Kyle Kate

Love Intersts: Jennifer Anderson

Fashion Choices: Celestial Elegant as a beautiful and elegant girly girl while she wearing off the shoulder, camisole tops, leather/jackets/vests/dusters, denim/celestial patterns skirts, above the knee dresses, capri/mini leggings and wedge sandals/low heels boots/flats. She dislike wearing hooded sweater,sweat shirts, sweat pants, shorts, maxi dresses/miniskirts and sneakers/high heels

Sexuality: Bisexual

Favorite Movies: Mystery, Noir and Christian

Favorite Books/Novels: Cybersix

Favorite T.V. Show: Mystery Documentary

Favorite Music: Christian Pop and Worship

Favorite Drinks: Peach Iced Tea and English Tea

Favorite Foods: Vegetarian French Cuisine Except Ratatouille

Worst Fear: Her father is being kidnapped by villains including her evil uncle Trent

Favorite part of being a spy: Being a leader of the trio

My version of Clover is not different from the original, for her design I made her a part English, part Irish and part French, she and her family were born in London, England in Western Eupore, after she graduated from Saint Christina School when she was 11 with her parents and her sisters, from London, England to Beverly Hills, California as she attended to Beverly Vista Middle School, and then she attended to Beverly Hills High School, she meet Sammy and Alexia, since childhood, she passed the art history exams as a top student before she and her family moved to USA from England after she graduated from Saint Christina School as she chose to work for W.O.O.H.P, her mother is an Irish surgeon and her father is a half English and a half French well paid psychologist, one of her sisters is 4 years older and younger than her, she is a college student and she is a middle school student. Clover is lean intelligent and beautiful part English, part Irish, and French fair/pale skinned girly girl teenager, with waist length wavy light reddish blonde/ magenta ombre hair tied up in a high ponytail, slightly reddish orange eyebrows, long thin eyelashes, ocean blue eyes, a light brown spot beauty mark under her right eye, heart-shaped lips and she wearing some makeovers like hot pink eyeshadows cherry red eyeliners, and matte rosy lilac lipstick, wearing some jewelry accessories and elegant celestial aesthetic clothes including off the shoulder/camisole tops, denim/leather/jacket/vests/dusters, above the knee denim/celestial patterns skirts, above the knee dresses, capri/mini/finest leggings, low cut socks and wedge sandals/low heels boots/flats instead of fashionable including hooded sweater, sweat shirts, sweat pants, shorts, maxi dresses, miniskirts, sneakers and high heels combat boots, as her goal is to graduated from high school and attended to go The University of California, Berkeley, to study for art and design fashions. Inspired by Iris from Lollirock, Nya from Ninjago, Rainbow Dash and Cheerlie from My Little Pony Gen 3, and Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

[hvnyz]

if you’re hearing LOVE GROWS (WHERE MY ROSEMARY GOES) by EDISON LIGHTHOUSE playing, you have to know PARISA ELSAYED (SHE/THEY;DEMIGIRL) is near by! the 27 year old MORTICIAN at IVY LANE FUNERAL HOME has been in denver for, like, . SIX YEARS (AND 16 YEARS BEFORE THAT) they’re known to be quite BRAZEN, but being VIBRANT seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble MEDALION RAHIMI. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those THE SMELL OF TOM FORD LOST CHERRY, FIELDS OF WILD FLOWERS AND FRESH BAKED CINNAMON COOKIE vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around WASHINGTON PARK long enough! pinterest || connections and wanted connections

BASICS

FULL NAME: Parisa Celina Elsayed NICKNAME(S):  "P", Pari, Paris. AGE: 27 DATE OF BIRTH:  October 30th, 1996 PLACE OF BIRTH:  Somewhere in California CURRENT LOCATION:.  Washington Park ETHNICITY: Iranian GENDER:  Demi Girl/Genderfluid PRONOUNS: she/they SEXUAL ORIENTATION:  lesbian RELIGION:  raised both Jewish and Muslim with interfaith parents, she considers herself modern Muslim and reform Jewish, and practices religion with fluidity, not constraining herself to what they consider outdated rules and practices. OCCUPATION: Mortician and co-owner of Ivy Lane funeral home FACECLAIM:  Medalion Rahimi

PHYSICAL TRAITS

HEIGHT: 5'5 WEIGHT: 115 pounds HAIR COLOR: Brown EYE COLOR: brown PIERCINGS: both ears are pierced, their nose was pierced for most of their teenage years. TATTOOS:  none at the moment but that could change. SCARS|MARKS: a healed scar between their thumb and forefinger SIGNATURE SCENT: Lost Cherry by Tom Ford.

PHOBIAS AND DISEASES

MENTAL ILLNESSES: adhd PHYSICAL ILLNESSES: n/a PHOBIAS: n/a

RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS: Rashid and Jeroens Elsayed SIBLINGS: Yazmin and James Elsayed RELATIONSHIPS: tba PETS: a Bernese mountain dog named Athena, a white cat named Blu

PERSONALITY ZODIAC SIGN:  Scorpio MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral FAVORITE FOODS: cheese pizza with extra cheese, hummus with chili oil, sushi, garlic parm french fries, the little pretzels with peanut butter inside. FAVORITE COLOR: sage green, mustard yellow LIKES:  going to brunch, walking barefoot on their hardwood floors, long flowy dresses and skirts, the feeling prosecco gives you, eating udon noodles in bed watching her favorite films, an ice-cold cherry coke.  DISLIKES: restrictions and rules, the sound of people chewing, when they don’t have at least one savory and one sweet snack in their home at all times HOBBIES: moonwalks, antiquing, dancing barefoot in their kitchen to “guilty pleasure” music.

HEADCANONS

tw religion

Parisa always felt like they had a special connection with their religious background, but their views have always been progressive and fluid, which is why they practice in a way that makes them feel both connected to their roots and yet free to live their life in their own way. Parisa refuses to live by the gender binary, so why practice a religion that way? They know this isn't the norm and so they are respectful in every way they can be without compromising their own sense of self.

Parisa has a habit of sitting on their balcony or walking (with their dog) at night, far past what is considered a normal time, just to look at the moon.

BIOGRAPHY

tw mention of animal death, tw death, tw religion

The idea of freedom had always been something that Parisa embraced. They grew up in a home that traveled, two dads and two siblings that all went on adventures together, before finally settling in Denver when Parisa was just 12. They gave her a home and room to explore life with open, hungry wonder.

Parisa was the kind of kid who played barefoot in the mud, looking for worms and put flowers in their hair. When she found a turtle in a lake on a hike with her dads, they let Parisa take it home. They named it ginger, and they built it a habitat and it became their best friend, whenever Parisa had a free moment, their eyes were on that tiny shelled being.

|TW MENTION OF ANIMAL DEATH and DEATH and RELIGION| Parisa's first, but certainly not last, encounter with death was when they were 14, and Ginger was found dead. While devastated, Parisa also found themselves intrigued, by the circumstances, and suddenly, by death itself. It became a hyper fixation. Encyclopedia research and Google searches were sometimes dark, but informative. While everyone else viewed it as something to be scared of, Parisa soon found that was beautiful, in a way. When Paris learned that they could work in the funeral industry, everything changed for them.

Growing up both Muslim, and Jewish, Parisa knew that in some practices, women weren't allowed to attend funerals and that the individual funeral practices of each religion that they found themself deeply rooted in were also restricting them from working on something they truly felt passionate about, so thus began both Parisa religious, and gender, exploration.

Their gender identity had never been solid, in such a fluid household where gender roles had never been enforced, after therapy and research, Parisa's realization that they were genderfluid came around the same time that their take on religion was also fluid.

Judaism and Islam are two beautiful, but to Parisa, slightly restrictive practices, and since their family had never been fully restrictive, Parisa took that approach with the way they practiced. With as much respect as they could, they moved forward with their line of passion, focusing on their relationship with both themself and God in a way that felt right to them. | TW ENDS|

Arapahoe Community College allowed Parisa to get an Associate of Applied Science degree, Parisa finished their degree in two years and a job for a local funeral home as a funeral assistant, it was about almost three years in Parisa knew that the way they viewed death and funerals didn't align with the job they took on and after contacting someone who had similar views (wc on main), they moved back to Denver and opened IVY LANE.

Parisa has been back in Denver for six years co-running Ivy Lane, living in a home just a five-minute walk from their work.

[applechip118]

all the mr:tm lore i have so far

i thought i should start posting about my ocs! the story is called Melanie Richards: Teenage Mercenary (probably not my idea lmao). i don’t have any official refs yet but here’s the official lore thus far!

TW for abuse, neglect, mental illness, murder, homophobia/transphobia, bullying, toxic yuri ❤️ , violence/body horror (like FNAF)

Melanie Charlotte Richards (Maurycja Celina Rodowicz) is a 13-year-old Polish-American girl who lives in San Diego in the early 2010s. She comes from a poor, abusive family, living with her mother and stepfather (her father passed away in the 2000s).

She’s the classic middle school weeaboo, obsessed with manga and J-pop. Don’t mention yaoi around her, she’ll start foaming at the mouth (not because she finds yaoi boys attractive though—she’s a lesbian in denial, but if you told her that she’d kill you on the spot).

She is autistic and has ADHD, BPD, OCD and likely PTSD, and because of this asks her parents for therapy but is denied because she’s “old enough to earn it for herself” (since her family can’t afford it). She’s forced to become a hitman in secret, going around killing middle-aged businessmen for other middle-aged businessmen with an old cricket bat. She’s terrible at being subtle so her parents likely have an idea something’s going on, but don’t care.

Andrea Claudia Campbell is a 13-year-old Jamaican and Native Hawaiian girl who also lives in San Diego, and goes to the same middle school as Melanie. She has a mom, dad and two younger brothers (11 and 8 years old). She is autistic and has ADHD, and her family is a little better off than Melanie’s.

Andrea is an absolute LOSER. NOBODY likes her!! She’s the bi, probably nonbinary Deviantart wolf furry kid, who dresses scenemo and probably posts edgy edits of herself to Facebook. She and Melanie quickly become best friends through their eighth grade art class, since they’re both unpopular and get bullied often.

Andrea’s home life is arguably better than Melanie’s (Melanie’s parents are emotionally abusive and neglectful, as well as bigoted traditional Christians. Andrea’s parents are less volatile, but still bigoted, especially homophobic/transphobic). Andrea’s parents end up finding her gay stuff on her laptop, and in a panic Andrea runs away from home and shows up at Melanie’s door. Melanie suggests that they run off and live in a shitty motel together, and being stupid 13 year old girls in a sapphic situationship, they decide it’s a perfect idea!

When Andrea becomes curious as to how they can afford to live out of a motel, Melanie figures she should introduce Andrea to her work and… yeah. She tricks her into helping her do a job, and in the aftermath, she comforts a horrified Andy by putting matching yellow band-aids on their ring fingers like a wedding. Me and the girl I pulled by traumabonding her to me ❤️

Eventually Andy comes around and they’re good for a while, of course until the school bullies catch wind of their situation and start talking. I’m not so certain on this part, but Melanie ends up betraying Andy and throwing her under the bus. I want to write it so that it’s a combination of her internalized homophobia, trauma and BPD (if anyone has any advice or experience please feel free to share!).

By this point Andy has earned enough herself to fend for herself, so they end up going their separate ways for a while. Working on her own, Melanie is given an offer by a client—a way to be much more efficient at her job. Still unstable and uncertain, she agrees. What she doesn’t realize is that this offer was to literally hollow her out FNAF scooper-style, and then turn her into a Springtrap-esque abomination of flesh and machinery ❤️

Andy, lonely and guilty despite Melanie being the one to betray her, returns and finds Hollow!Melanie. She’s rightfully horrified but also angry at Melanie for what she did. She confronts her but ends up breaking down and hugs her. Melanie, a literal and metaphorical machine, starts to remember her humanity from this and apologizes.

The ending is a work in progress but the main moral of the story that I’m trying to portray is that girlhood, especially teenage years, can be really fucked up, but it does get better because you’ll grow out of it. Melanie and Andrea part ways with a sincere “I’m glad you were in my life, now get the FUCK out”, and Andy is left with a hell of a middle school crush horror story to tell. The End ❤️

if you guys have any feedback or ideas please let me know!!!! this is all based heavily off of my own experience with abuse and trauma so it’s accurate to my own story but not necessarily anyone else’s. maybe i can get around to making refs sometime! (lying) but if you guys have any questions/submissions i will be so so SO happy to answer them :3 i felt like the ooftrop ucft writing this lmao

[aenysx]

𝖒𝖞 𝖒𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗'𝖘 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖈𝖍𝖔𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖒𝖊

*    introducing    ,    alysanne    lannister    of    house    lannister    .    she    has    just    passed    her    nineteenth    nameday    and    it    was    quite    the    celebration    ,    wasn’t    it    ?     whispers    among    the    westerosi    claim    the    lady    to    be    bubbly    and    optimistic    ,    but    impatient    and    boisterous    ,    too    .    though    ,    it    is    factually    known    that    their    allegiance    lies    to    house   lannister    and    they    feel    anxious    about    being    in    king’s    landing    .    sabrina carpenter    ,    cis  female    .

TW: eating disorder, parental death.

𝖙𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖎𝖙 𝖙𝖔𝖔 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖑

𝖍𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞

the youngest child of the lord and lady of casterly rock, house lannister stands proud but beneath the surface it’s anything but that, her parents are disappointed, two daughters, no son. she was meant to be their son and while they got it in her disposition, she was not a boy, she was wild, rarely listened and was often found with mud on herself as a child. she’s taught like her sister is but she never appears bookish. celina takes the role of lady lannister much better than alysanne ever could. alysanne develops a personality much like nobody has seen within her household. she’s nothing alike the lady or lord of casterly rock, she’s a free spirit, she’s wild and most importantly she is not smart.

despite being educated, there’s a small rumour that alysanne cannot read nor write - complete rumours, she struggles but it’s only natural that she is the complete opposite of her sister, who’s academically smart while alysanne excels at conversation, bending others to her will and always getting what she wants no matter the price. she’s a recluse though, the other ladies make fun of her, she’s too pudgy, she’s always eating, she’s never had the will to say no to lemon cakes and suddenly it catches up to her. they don’t view her as human, she’s cynical and doesn’t trust easily, she wishes she was like those girls she hears about - those who are full of innocence and are charming but she simply is not, innocence was something bad and she would never be taken advantage of.

being neither parents favourite child had its benefits, alysanne could come and go as she pleased, often dragging celina into her cries for attention - she must not tell anybody where alysanne goes, she’s a teenage girl and can take care of herself - until she can’t. adolescence is a strange time, alysanne is going through changes then suddenly her father dies, while the two were not the closest, alysanne believes she is allowed to grieve much more than her sister, little is expected of her, especially when it came to their father. he claimed to love her but she could not see it, he was distant and cold and alysanne could not remember a time where her father had told her he loved her but it still hurt. her first heartbreak - her only heartbreak, she locked herself in her room for hours on end, refusing to talk to anybody except celina, she was the only one who knew what alysanne was feeling and though celina could not share her emotions, alysanne believed she shared grief for the both of them.

the weight slowly begins to come off of alysanne, through the grief she is not eating and walking around more, it’s not healthy but she feels so much better, people comment that she has never looked so lively, though she has never felt as dead inside. meals often missed, food often counted, foods she removed from her diet for her own good but it truly wasn’t, though the more people commented the more alysanne felt she was doing a good thing. and she hasn’t stopped, alysanne can hide it better now.

with the death of her father, alysanne’s personality changed, she went from the educated bookish girl to a seemingly uneducated girl, who was obsessed with dresses, the latest fashion and anything but books, the facade helped her hide, people don’t suspect anything of poor little lady alysanne lannister who’s brain contains less information than a candle, a head empty lackadaisical girl with no direction or interest. people spill their secrets to an unsuspecting girl with little ambition but it works in her favour, people don’t expect her to use it against them.

𝖎𝖓𝖋𝖑𝖚𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖇𝖞

paris hilton  & & &  regina  george  & & &  cher  horowitz

𝖆𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖘

charm bracelets / speaking before thinking / following your dreams / experimenting with new things / family time / always early / you need to be more confident / leaving voicemails after the beep / never letting go / quiet sundays

[real-life-pine-tree]

Arc-V Aftermath: Yuto’s Backstory (1/26)

When all is said and done, things have quickly recovered in the four dimensions. But when weird things start happening, the Yu-Salad Boys and the Bracelet Girls quickly realize they have some loose ends to fix. Co-written with @violetganache42.

WARNING: Dub names will be featured in the story.

It was another morning in Paradise City. The sun rose up in the sky, casting its rays on the city and through some white clouds, illuminating its light all around the. The birds were chirping their melodies from the trees, the ground, and in the air. The citizens went about with their morning routines, whether it is getting ready for work, school, or learning more lessons about dueling. After the events with the Interdimensional War, Fusion Dimension’s Duel Academy, and even Zarc, it felt nice to wake up to peaceful mornings, especially for Yuya.

The young Dueltainer was glad to know everyone can finally live their days in peace without the threat of Duel Academy looming over their shoulder and to have his father and Zuzu back. The only thing that will never be the same about him and his childhood friend was that their counterparts were now fused with their own. While going on about with their daily routines, the counterparts were managing their individual lives; at the same time, Yuto and Yugo kept their relationships with Lulu and Rin respectively, whereas Yuri and Celina developed a rivalry with each other. Due to people getting carded and Leo’s intentions of fusing all four dimensions to bring his daughter Ray back, Celina had a valid reason to be Yuri’s rival. All in all, all eight boys and girls were getting used to their new lives.

But there was one in particular who may not have changed after the conflict was officially resolved…

The Yu salad were getting ready for the day, each repeatedly switching out their spirits to get dressed and maintain their perfectly coiffed hairstyles. Yuto was currently taking control of Yuya’s body, brushing his thick, spiky, black and light purple hair back, but he was also muttering something to himself. It was hard to distinguish, but it sounded very noble; the gestures he was doing even conveyed his nobility very easily. Was it a force of habit or part of his daily routine while growing up in Heartland City? Whatever the reason, it seemed to grab the attention of the other boys, including a certain banana-banged Synchro user.

“Enough with the fancy talk, Prince Charming,” Yugo said. “We’re not in the Middle Ages.”

“I do agree with the moron,” Yuri chimed in. “Ever since the whole dimension fiasco, I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be acting like a fairytale knight. Why is that?”

“That’s none of your concerned,” Yuto answered, his grip on his brush tightening.

“Actually, Yuri might be right,” Yuya said. “I know he was trained by Leo while Yugo grew up in the streets of New Domino City, but we know nothing about your past.”

“Do you really want to know?” Yuto asked. “My past life in Heartland is-”

“Can’t be any worse than fishing through garbage cans for any good cards,” Yugo interrupted.

“It’s not,” Yuto said. “I just don’t like talking about it.”

“Aw, come on, Yuto!” Yuya insisted. “What made you who you are today?”

Yuto let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine,” he said, putting his brush on Yuya’s nightstand. “This might come as a shock, but when I was younger, I wasn’t always a noble person…”

Yuya, Yugo, and even Yuri were surprised to hear Yuto say that, but it was true; he wasn’t born with a noble personality. In fact, he used to be an extremely shy kid while growing up. It dates back several years ago in Heartland City, long before Duel Academy invaded.

In a peaceful, colorful, duel-loving city like Heartland, one would expect the residents to be enthusiastic, extroverted, joyful, friendly, and full of smiles. They would be right…for the most part. As a young child, Yuto initially was not one of those people. He used to be quite the shrinking violet because he didn’t fit right in with the others, so it made finding friends difficult. Surprisingly, the only thing he regarded as his friend was his signature card: Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon. He felt like it was speaking to him and he kept it with him wherever he went. Additionally, his hairstyle wasn’t always combed back; it used to be short and spiky with his bangs hiding his eyes. In other words, it could be considered a borderline or a straight-up emo hairstyle, something that would stick out like a sore thumb in such a bright and cheery town.

As he grew up in the city, he still remained a wallflower, with Dark Rebellion as his only friend and no one to talk to or bond with. It was pretty much a lonesome childhood for him up until the day he met him. Someone who changed his life forever.

His name was Shay Obsidian.

One day, Yuto continued his never-ending cycle of introverted loneliness when he couldn’t help but notice something occurring right outside Heartland Duel School. It looked like there was a duel going on, but who was it between? Curious, the young boy decided to go investigate. As he got closer, he started figuring out what was going. One side of the field had a Duelist about to lose. His opponent on the other side caught the shy kid’s eye; he had blueish-black hair extending up to his chin and light green bangs swept left and tucked underneath some strands. His eyes were a mix between yellow and green, maybe a chartreuse color? He wore a while buttoned-up shirt, dark grey shorts, and a pair of black sneakers. His choice of monsters intrigued Yuto as well. He could see what looked like some kind of blue, green, and silver falcon with yellow and purple details; what surprised the kid is when the young teen declared its effect.

“Finish him off with Ravaging Rebellion!” the young teen happily exclaimed.

With that, the falcon flew up to the sky and then became cloaked in flames, much like a phoenix. Yuto brushed his bangs aside to try and get a better view of the young teen’s final attack; he had rather poor eyesight and felt he looked weird wearing glasses, so he prefers to not wear them. With an increased ATK of 2700, the falcon destroyed the special summoned Gem-Knight Pearl, reducing the opponent’s remaining Life Points to 0. The students cheered and applauded at his victory and the astonishing duel the two young teenage boys had. Yuto didn’t care if he missed what happened; he was amazed at how the young teen and his falcon finished it with such an exhilarating move.

After the applauding had died down, everyone went back to their routines, talking about the duel they watched. They mentioned how impressive Shay’s skills were and maybe had the most impressive skills in the entire Spade Branch. Yuto’s thoughts were flooding his mind about who this Shay person is. Should he talk to him? No, he can’t; his shyness always got the better of him, so he didn’t see the point of it. He then started to leave, only to find himself tripping down on the ground, which apparently caught Shay’s attention.

The young teen quickly ran up to Yuto. “Are you alright?” he asked.

He helped the kid get up from the ground; as he brushed off any dirt that may have gotten on his clothes, he noticed the person that helped him. It was Shay! The same person who won the duel with his falcon! Yuto tried to respond, but he had trouble responding.

“My name’s Shay Obsidian,” he said, smiling pleasantly. “What’s yours?”

Yuto looked down. “Y-Yuto…” he muttered.

“Huh?” Shay asked.

“Yuto!” the dark-haired boy blurted out. He quickly covered his mouth, embarrassed for shouting like that.

“Yuto, huh?” Shay asked. “Aren’t you that shy kid everyone talks about?”

He nodded slowly, feeling nervous about talking to someone for the first time.

“Well don’t you worry, Yuto,” Shay said, patting the younger boy on the back. “How about I get the honor to be your first official friend?”

This surprised the kid. An actual friend? An actual human friend? Someone besides his Dark Rebellion really wants to be his friend? He never thought the day would come, yet he was unsure about it.

“Are you okay?” Shay asked, concerned due to the young boy’s silence.

Something was running through the kid’s mind, almost like he’s experiencing a flashback. Throughout his life, people had always made fun of his dark appearances. His baggy clothes, his hair, you name it. It was no wonder he felt left out; for a socializing, happy city, the residents teasing Yuto like that could be described as ironic. As a result, he felt like the only person he feels comfortable talking to was his own mother.

The sheer thought of him getting poked fun of like that worsened his anxiety. He was afraid Shay might do the same thing, but surprisingly, he didn’t.

“I heard what other kids at school say about you,” Shay said. “You constantly get teased for having a dark outlook. Right?”

He nodded again.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shay said. “Just stick by my side and no one will make fun of you again.”

A small smile formed on Yuto’s face. This was definitely a moment he wouldn’t expect to happen, but it was. This was going to be a life changer. It made him feel…happy…and relieved that there is someone who will protect him. As he was about to reach his hand out to shake Shay’s, his Dark Rebellion card fell onto the ground, catching the young teen’s attention.

Shay picked up the dragon card. “I never saw this card before,” he said. “Do you duel?”

Yuto shook his head “no”, shocking the young teen.

“Then I guess I should teach you how to play,” Shay said, still smiling.

The shy kid felt hesitant about learning to duel. He had never played Duel Monsters before; heck, he never even had a deck of his own. Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon was the only card he had because of how they’re both connected, so wanting the card back felt more important to him.

Shay noticed Yuto’s nervous expression. “You want this back?” the young teen asked, giving Dark Rebellion back to Yuto. He uttered a small “Yes”, still feeling uncomfortable about dueling.

“That could be the starting point of your deck,” Shay said. “I never saw anyone use that card, but I’m sure it could work for any type of deck. You just need to find your dueling style.”

For several days, Shay has been finding various—and somewhat creative—ways to get his new friend into dueling. Knowing Yuto doesn’t have a deck and a single card, he went with using his own deck to bribe him. With so many imaginative methods to persuade him, it almost felt endless for the kid.

One time, Shay switched out Yuto’s lunch when he wasn’t looking. Upon removing the lid, he saw Shay’s cards, baffling him immensely. Did the lunch lady accidentally mixed up my order? he wondered. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. A couple days later, he opened his locker to get his sneakers after the school day had ended, only to find the same deck behind them. This left him stunned silent; why were these cards appearing everywhere? As for using the bathroom, well… Let’s just say Shay was sitting in the stall Yuto wanted to use, showing the shocked boy his deck. The same deck that kept popping up on places.

Eventually, Yuto decided to give in. The young teen’s “persuasive” techniques were honestly getting more and more unusual per day. Now, he thought, if he was going to learn how to duel, what would be the best place to start? Fortunately, Shay has just the answer.

“You want to join the school’s dueling club?” Shay asked one day.

“Y-Y-Yes…” Yuto muttered. “I want to duel too…”

“That’s the spirit!” Shay happily said, sounding completely innocent. “Meet me at the school gym after class. That’s where we meet every afternoon.”

Later that day, Yuto immediately went to the gym after class. He was wondering how he was going to learn to play. He doesn’t have a deck to use and needs to have a unique, individual style to it. Hopefully, the dueling club will figure something out for him. Outside the gym doors, he saw and met up with Shay, who was eagerly waiting for him. Was he hiding something to surprise the boy? Who knows. Whatever it is, it will definitely change Yuto’s life forever.

“Glad you could make it,” Shay said, ruffling Yuto’s hair. “We were just about to get started with today’s meeting.”

Right as he finished talking, one of the doors opened, revealing a club member. He had blonde hair with a curled point and dark green, spiky bangs. His eyes were blueish-gray and had pale skin. He wore a white t-shirt with blue pants and light brown shoes. Yuto has never met him before, but he looked like he was friends with Shay.

“So this is that Yuto kid you kept talking about?” the young blonde teen asked, speaking in a somewhat hoarse voice.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Shay said. “Yuto, this is Kite Tenjo.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kite told Yuto, smiling pleasantly.

Yuto looked around the school gym. “Wh-Where…” he stammered.

“Where’s everyone else?” Kite asked. “It’s just me and Shay.”

“But we hope to get more members,” Shay added.

This was surprisingly unusual to hear. A duel club with only two members? That’s virtually impossible. Yuto was expecting to find more members, especially regarding how popular Duel Monsters is in Heartland City, but seeing how timid he currently is, two was a comfortable number of people to have.

The sound of the school bell rang; it was time for students to take part in their club activities. “Okay Duelists,” Shay said, addressing Yuto and Kite. “Before we begin I want to see if everyone is present. Kite Tenjo?”

“Here,” Kite replied.

“And that’s everyone,” Shay said. “As our first order of business, I would like to introduce you to Yuto. He will be joining us starting today.”

Yuto felt a little embarrassed being introduced to a crowd, let alone a tiny crowd; there is literally one person sitting down. Joining such a small club felt more awkward than he initially thought. But this’ll be the last moment of shyness he experiences.

For today’s club meeting, Shay and Kite plan on introducing its newest member to various card archetypes. Yuto has never heard of archetypes before. He had questions running through his head: What even represents an archetype? The Japanese symbol on the top right corner of the card? The monster’s typing? Or are they a group of supported cards? These question made him puzzled, but hearing Shay talking snapped him out of his confusion.

“Before we begin today’s dueling practice, we should help Yuto create his very own deck,” Shay said. “He already has one card, so that should be his starting point.”

“One card?” Kite asked. “Can I see it?”

Yuto felt a little hesitant, but he let the other young teen look at his Dark Rebellion card.

Kite read the card’s stats. “Looks like this card can work with any archetype,” he said, giving the card back to Yuto. “I never heard of it before.”

“I never saw that card anywhere else either,” Shay said. “But hopefully there’s some archetype that would work.”

Then it was settled; their first order of business was to help Yuto find the perfect archetype in order to construct his first dueling deck. Shay took out his Duel Disk and after a bit of setup, holograms appeared from the pad. The young boy was about to get his first lesson on how to play Duel Monsters.

“Since your monster is a dark-attribute dragon, let’s start with that,” Shay said, going through the category filters. “You should start off with a basic dragon deck, so you should start off with normal dragon monsters. But you can’t have only monsters in your deck, so maybe the equip spell card Dragon Treasure could work as a starter power boost…”

Shay and Kite scrolled through the various groups of cards to deduce which ones would work well in Yuto’s deck. At the same time, Yuto brushed his light purple bangs aside once again to see their working process and the vast variety of cards. He saw that applying certain filters can help organize the cards based on Attribute, Type, Level, Spell, Trap, and even archetype. He can already imagine millions of Duel Monsters cards that have existed and are existing ever since the day they were first created. His body was filled once again with amazement and awe.

Deck construction seemed to be going at a steady pace. The two young teens discussed and strategized which cards would work best with one another while the boy continued to stare in admiration. He hadn’t felt this happy since he witnessed Shay’s victory several days ago; today was a really good day, something he never thought he would experience in his life, but he is and it feels great. A few minutes later, as deck construction progressed, something caught Yuto’s eye. Whatever it was displayed holographically piqued his interests.

Yuto gasped softly. “What is it?” Shay asked.

“G-Go back…” Yuto said.

“You found an archetype you like?” Kite asked.

Yuto nodded his head. Shay scrolled back to stop at the archetype the boy saw. It consists of DARK Warrior-Type Monsters; some of them looked ghostly while the others were Pseudo-Trap Monsters, having animated armor or weapons surrounded by ghostly flames.

“Was this what you saw?” Shay asked.

Yuto nodded “Yes” once again.

Shay looked a bit concerned. “The Phantom Knights aren’t exactly cheerful,” he informed. “According to their card lore, they’re leftover ghosts from a war that wiped out a once-grand kingdom.”

“And it’s not exactly the best archetype,” Kite informed. “It mostly consists of trap cards, which can be a bit of a problem since a good deck mostly needs monsters.”

The kid then explained that he and the Phantom Kinghts both have dark appearances, making his outlook a perfect match. Shay and Kite were rather surprised at his explanation.

“Alright, Yuto,” Shay said. “If you insist, I guess you can work with that deck.”

“Th-Thank you…” Yuto stammered.

“But you can’t duel with that kind of attitude,” Shay said.

Yuto looked at the ground, blushing heavily. “I-I-I…”

Shay tilted Yuto’s head upwards so he was looking at him. “Just imagine yourself being as brave as the Phantom Knights,” the young teen informed.

“Brave…?” Yuto asked. “I-I can’t do that…”

“The Phantom Knights are noble and chivalrous,” Shay explained. “Remember those knights from medieval films?”

“Y-Yes…” Yuto stammered.

“Channel that behavior into your dueling,” Shay continued. “Can you do that?”

Yuto nodded his head once more and began to think. Be as brave, noble, and chivalrous as the Phantom Knights, he thought to himself. He started to picture an older version of himself, using the Phantom Knights in duels, being brave in the face of danger, and a loyal, chivalrous, and noble person to his friends, much like a knight.

The dark-haired boy responded to Shay with a slight bow. “A-As you wish…” he replied.

Shay looked surprised as Kite repressed an amused laugh. “Close enough, I guess,” the blue-green-haired teen said.

As the years went on, Yuto practiced and perfected his dueling skills. He attended the school’s dueling club everyday, learning how to utilize a monster’s effect, know when to use Spells and Traps, perform an XYZ summon, and use these skills to construct a strategy that works best for him. He even took the opportunity to test them out after club activities ended each day. At one point, Shay declared an attack with one of his Raidraptors, who had enough strength to blow Yuto’s hair back. The teen couldn’t help but comment on the dark-haired boy’s new look.

“What are you talking about?” Yuto asked, speaking more often than usual.

“I said you look good with your hair pushed back,” Shay repeated. “In fact, you actually look better than when you started dueling.”

“Yeah right,” Yuto said. “I don’t feel any diff-”

But he did. He didn’t feel his hair covering his eyes and forehead; they were more exposed. This was a rather interesting hairstyle he received, so he started combing his hair back. Of course, this didn’t change the fact that his new haircut didn’t help his eyesight one bit.

“Yuto, I noticed you have been squinting a lot,” his mother told him one day. “Maybe you should get glasses.”

“Mom, I really don’t want glasses,” Yuto insisted. “They’ll make me look weird.”

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Yuto’s mother replied. “Don’t you want the world to see your pretty eyes?”

Much to Yuto’s embarrassment, he was given his first pair of glasses; the ones he got had dark purple frames. Additionally, his appearance started to change. His gravity-defying hairstyle grew longer and he became quite handsome, especially with the confident sparks in his eyes. He also stopped wearing baggy clothes in favor of more casual ones; his new attire consisted of a black shirt, a black belt with silver studs, a black and cream-colored coat, a necklace, two black wristbands, dark jeans, and a pair of black shoes.

At the same time, his personality also changed. He didn’t notice at first, but people have been treating him differently. They saw that this Yuto wasn’t the same isolated, shy, lonely kid anymore; he has become more open to others, actively participating in and watching duels, developed caring and knightly traits, and smiled a lot more often. It was like he was a new person.

“You want to get more members?” Shay asked during a dueling club meeting.

“Yeah,” Yuto answered. “You said this dueling club is a truce between the Spade and Clover Branches, so we need to get more people interested.”

“Alright,” Kite said. “It would be nice to have other people from the Clover Branch in the club.”

Shay, Kite, and a now 14-year-old Yuto have spent the last few years in the dueling club as its only members, so it would be nice to add a few new ones. Besides, having said new members be from the Spade and Clover Branches can help emphasize the truce between the two branches. The only question is how they’re going to find people who are not only in the two branches, but are also interested in joining.

“So what’s your idea, Yuto?” Kite asked.

“There’s a duel tournament going on between the girls from the Spade and Clover Branches,” Yuto explained. “Maybe we can recruit members during the tournament.”

“I think I heard about that earlier today,” Shay recalled. “My sister is participating in it.”

“You have a sister?” Yuto asked, trying to imagine what the sister of Shay Obsidian would look like.

“Yeah,” Shay answered. “She would make a nice addition to the dueling club.”

“Then we should get going,” Kite said. “Those new members aren’t going to recruit themselves.”

A few minutes later, the three boys arrived at the tournament. As they watched, they saw two girls dueling each other. One had brown hair tied in a ponytail, fair skin, a red, long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, grayish-blue capris, and a pair of blue sneakers. Her opponent was a pale-skinned girl with magenta eyes and long, dark purple hair tied in a bow shape with a wing-shaped barrette and shorter, lilac side tails. She wore a light yellow and white, knee-length dress, a pair of white shoes, and a bracelet with a wing-shaped design and a yellow diamond framed in the design.

Several minutes have passed and the dark-purple haired girl brought the brown-haired girl’s Life Points down to 0, winning the duel.

“That girl’s amazing!” Yuto explained.

“Yeah, that’s my younger sister,” Shay said.

“Oh, she is?” Yuto asked without a second thought.

Suddenly, realization hit him and he looked back and forth between Shay and his sister with a shocked look on his face. Shay just simply glared back at Yuto, knowing he chose not to wear his glasses today.

After the tournament, Shay introduced his sister to his dark-haired friend. “Nice to meet you,” the dark-haired girl said. “My name’s Lulu.”

Lulu smiled at Yuto, causing him to blush. There was something about her appearance that he adores. Was it the eyes? The hair? Or what about the clothes she wore? No, it was every single detail about her. Upon seeing her lips, he developed fantasies in his head…kissing-related fantasies. He started developing this weird feeling in his heart; he could have sworn it just skipped a beat. What is this emotion he was having? He never experienced this before. Was is…love? Love at first sight?

Shortly thereafter, the two instantly grew close to each other. On one sunny day, the two sat at a table with Yuto checking out her deck. From the look of things, her archetype was Lyrilusc, consisting of WIND Winged-Beast Type female monsters; their low Levels, ATK, and DEF were accompanied by really useful effects that increase the ATK and number of direct attacks based on how many monsters are summoned. Her ace, Assembled Nightingale, can even OTK her opponents with the right amount of XYZ Materials.

“Lyrilusc, huh?” Yuto remarked. “This is a pretty good deck. Did you make this yourself?”

“Yeah, I did,” Lulu answered. “I want to have fun, bright duels like the songbirds that fly in the sky during warm summer days.”

“This deck is perfect,” Yuto said as he gave the deck back to Lulu. “Have you thought about joining the dueling club?”

“I have,” Lulu answered. “But I’m worried that my deck isn’t good enough.”

“That’s crazy,” Yuto said, placing his hand over Lulu’s. “You should be proud to have a deck like that.”

Lulu smiled softly at Yuto. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll join.”

And with that, Lulu Obsidian from the Spade Branch became one of the newest members of the dueling club. She even took the opportunity to convince her friends Sarah Glitters and Alex Kablam—two students in the Clover Branch—to join as well, making them two new additional members of the club.

A few weeks later, while she and Yuto were sitting on a bench, they grew closer than when they first met. “Lulu?” Yuto asked. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Lulu answered.

“These past few weeks have been amazing,” Yuto said. “Especially you. You’re the most amazing girl I ever met. You’re beautiful both inside and out, and you’re one of the best Duelists I know.”

“What are you saying?” Lulu asked.

“Lulu Obsidian, will you accompany me to the school dance?” Yuto asked.

“The one that’s coming up in three weeks?” Lulu asked in response.

“Yes,” Yuto answered. “But not as a friend. As a date.”

Lulu smiled with pure delight. “Of course, Yuto!” she said. “I’ll be more than happy to be your date to the dance!”

With that being said, she leaned her head on Yuto’s shoulder, surprising him. He can’t hardly believe he not only got a date for the upcoming school dance, but a girlfriend as well. He happily looked over to see Lulu, who was still resting on his shoulder.

Three weeks have passed and Yuto was getting ready for the big night. However, he felt like something was missing… He now remembered; he officially decided to wear his glasses for the first time. Aside from that, he wore a dull green formal shirt with a dark blue tie, a black dress jacket, dark blue pants, and black shoes. Putting on the glasses, he was ready for the school dance and his first date with Lulu.

When Yuto headed downstairs, his mother was amazed. “Look at you!” she happily exclaimed, hugging him tightly. “You look so grown up and handsome!”

“Mom!” Yuto exclaimed, blushing heavily. “This suit is a rental!”

Yuto’s mother quickly let go. “Sorry,” she said. “It feels like it was only yesterday you were a shy, nervous boy. Now look at you! Confident and about to attend your first school dance!”

Yuto smiled. “Thanks mom,” he said. “The dance is over at 11. I’ll be back home around that time.”

Yuto’s mother planted a kiss on his forehead. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” she said. “Just remember to relax and have fun.”

Several minutes later, she brought her son to the school. Upon dropping him off, they said their goodbyes to each other and he entered the gym. Everything was decorated with streamers and balloons tied in a few areas. There was an alignment of food and drinks on the table, even a bowl of fruit punch next to some stacks of cups. A band was performing on stage, with everyone eating, drinking, dancing, and having a good time.

As he looked over at the crowd, he saw and met up with the dueling club, who were all wearing different outfits, albeit Sarah for some reason. Alex also wore his usual outfit, but wore a poncho over it. Shay, Kite, and Lulu, on the other hand, had really nice clothes on. Kite wore a black suit (which included a matching trench coat) while Shay wore a tuxedo with gray pants and brown shoes. Lulu had her hair pinned up and donned large, feather earrings. She also sported a long, silver dress with sleeves on the shoulders and sparkly white heels. Yuto blushed at the sight of his date looking so beautiful.

“About time you got here,” Shay said.

“Sorry I was late,” Yuto said, smoothing out his dress jacket. “My mom was a little too happy about me being here.”

“Hang on…” Kite said. “Are you wearing your glasses?”

Yuto didn’t respond right away, causing the blonde teen to chuckle. “Don’t worry,” Kite said. “You look great.”

“It still feels weird,” Yuto admitted.

“Only during the first few times,” Sarah reassured. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

That was when Yuto noticed Sarah’s choice of attire. “What happened to your dress?” he asked.

“Briar mistook it for a scratching post,” Sarah explained, referring to her pet cat. “And due to it being a custom, there was no way to restore it in time.”

“Don’t worry,” Lulu told Sarah. “You still look great. And at least you actually put some effort into your outfit.”

“Oh, come on!” Alex exclaimed, knowing Lulu was referring to him. “This is my cleanest poncho!”

“But you’re still wearing that smelly old hoodie,” Kite pointed out.

“You’re one to talk,” Alex replied. “You’re wearing an old black coat.”

“My father wore this coat during his first school dance when he was my age,” Kite explained. “As did his father before him. It’s a family heirloom.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Shay said. “We’re here to enjoy the dance, not criticize our choices in formal wear.”

“Even though that’s clearly an angel who shape-shifted into a prettier replica of your sister?” Yuto asked in response.

Lulu quickly realized what Yuto just said. “Did you just call me pretty?” she asked.

Yuto smiled softly at Lulu. “Of course,” he answered, reaching out to hold her hand. “Fair princess.” He planted a kiss on the back of her hand, making her blush.

The night went on and it was clear the dance was a big hit. The band played so many great songs while people talked, joked around, laughed, ate, drank, and danced. Yuto, especially, had an amazing night with Lulu; he was even able to share a dance with her.

Near the end of the night, Lulu and Yuto were resting on the gymnasium bleachers. “Thanks for the fun time, Yuto,” Lulu said, leaning in to him.

“You’re welcome,” Yuto replied, smiling softly. He carefully placed his hand on Lulu’s cheek and-

“And what?” Yugo asked. “Come on, Yoot! Don’t leave us hanging! Did you get your first kiss with Lulu?”

No response. Something was wrong with Yuto. Is he okay? He sure doesn’t look like it. He just simply stared at his reflection in Yuya’s mirror.

“Yuto?” Yuya asked, sounding a bit concerned. “Are you alright?”

The only response he got was a saddened look on Yuto’s face. Yuya and Yugo grew worried about their XYZ counterpart. Even Yuri couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Looking back at the mirror, he could see a reflection of himself on the night of the school dance. He looked so handsome in his outfit and enjoyed spending the night with his friends…and with Lulu… But now, it was dashed…dashed by the sudden Invasion. He never forgot that night. The night where everyone ran away in fear from the Obelisk Force and their Chaos Ancient Gear Giants. The night where so many innocent people got their souls carded. The night he lost his mother… He still remembers seeing her death as she protected her own son from one of the Giant’s attacks. Everything that happened completely changed his life, and the only thing he had left to remind him of this painful night were the very clothes he was wearing, which were now ripped and tattered.

Suddenly, Yuya was switched out. “Huh?” he asked, surprised by the sudden switch. “Yuto?”

As the tomato-haired boy was left wondering what was wrong with Yuto, there was a knock on the door. “Hey Yuya, what’s taking so long?” a familiar voice asked. “Your mom just finished making pancakes.”

That voice belonged to none other than Sora Perse, who was recently adopted by Yoko. He opened the door, only to find Yuri taking Yuya’s place. “Oh, hey Yuri,” Sora said, greeting his former Obelisk Force teammate. “Wasn’t expecting to see you this early.”

“Never mind that,” Yuri said. “When did the Invasion begin?”

“Geez, didn’t know you already forgot,” Sora casually answered. “I don’t really remember the exact day, but I do remember seeing a bunch of school students dressed in fancy outfits. Don’t know why, though.”

Based on the given information, it immediately clicked together for Yuri. The Invasion occurred on the night of the school dance (making Yuya wonder if what Yuto initially told him about the Invasion happening during the daytime was a lie); it was no wonder why Yuto was upset and switched places with Yuya. But how on earth are they going to make him feel better? Just then, he developed an idea.

“Thank you for informing us,” Yuri said as he left the room, referring to himself, Yuya, and Yugo. “Now if you excuse us, we need to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Sakaki.”

[real-life-pine-tree]

Arc-V Aftermath: New Adjustments (3/26)

When all is said and done, things have quickly recovered in the four dimensions. But when weird things start happening, the Yu-Salad Boys and the Bracelet Girls quickly realize they have some loose ends to fix. Co-written with @violetganache42.

WARNING: Dub names will be featured in the story.

The next day, back at the Sakaki's residence, Yuto was having difficulty figuring out what his new look should be. It was really nice of Leo Corporation to give the XYZ people new clothing, but if there was one thing that people sometimes forgot about getting dressed, it is deciding what goes with what. He looked at some of the brand new clothes to see what he can wear. Heck, he was even pondering about wearing his glasses, something he has never happened before, so you can say there's always a first for everything.

Yuya, Yugo, and Yuri looked at the assortment of the provided clothes with. They were impressed with how nice they all were and wanted to help him out with what to wear. However, someone was getting impatient.

"Will you just pick something already?!" Yuri angrily asked. "I would like to have some of Mrs. Sakaki's pancakes before they get cold!"

"This is a new me," Yuto said, lifting up a black dress shirt. "Once Leo finally separates us, I'm going to work at ObsidianCorp. I need to have a more professional look."

"But who knows how long that's going to take," Yugo pointed out. "No need to get nervous."

"Yeah," Yuya agreed. "And you've known Shay and Lulu for a long time. I'm sure their parents are just as nice."

"You wouldn't know that," Yuto replied. "This is going to be the first time I properly meet Mr. and Mrs. Obsidian. I want them to know how serious I am with their job offer."

"You said they were making wedding preparations, Yoot," Yugo recalled. "Clearly they already see somethin’ good in you."

It was true; last night, Shay did mentioned how his parents approve of him. But in all seriousness, Yuto is preparing for his new life and he doesn't know what to expect. Whether the separation plan will get done today, this week, or some time later during the year, he wants to be ready. For a young, teenage boy who grew up in a middle class, entering a higher social status is pretty serious business. The sheer thought of it is putting a lot of pressure on him.

Detecting that Yuto was still pretty nervous, Yuri let out a frustrated sigh. "If it makes you feel any better, I suppose I could give you some...advice."

Yuto did his best to repress a laugh. "I'm serious!" Yuri exclaimed. "Dueling wasn't the only thing Leo taught me in Duel Academy!"

"Like how to dress like a snooty rich boy?" Yuto sarcastically asked.

"Wait, Yuto," Yuya said. "Yuri might be on to something."

Yuto soon realized that Yuya is right. Yuri ended up having to remind him that ever since he met Leo as a kid, he was taught about etiquette and how to behave properly. Seeing that he grew up in a high class environment in Duel Academy, he knows how his XYZ counterpart should dress for his first meeting with Shay and Lulu’s parents.

After a quick few minutes, he picked out a semi-casual outfit for Yuto to wear. It consisted of his light gray glasses, a long-sleeved black shirt with a dark grey business jacket, dark blue jeans, black shoes, and a necklace similar to his old one. Yuto was surprised about the clothes he was wearing while Yuri felt quite proud of himself.

Yuto smirked at his reflection in the bedroom mirror. "Not bad, rich boy," Yuto remarked. "I look good."

"That's good to hear," Yuri said. "Now you might need to fix your hair."

"What?" Yuto asked. "But my hair looks alright."

"Do you honestly think Mr. and Mrs. Obsidian would take you seriously with those crazy eggplant locks?" Yuri asked.

The only hairstyle Yuto had other than it being pushed back was when he had his bangs covering his eyes when he a kid. He was honestly unsure if a different hairstyle would look good on him. Yuri suggested getting a trim since it is longer and not appropriate in a high class environment. Yuto was a bit hesitant on that suggestion because he wasn't sure if it will suit him.

"What utter nonsense!" Yuri exclaimed. "Yuya, Yugo, and myself all have shorter hair, and we look alright."

It wasn't Yuto's fault. He's more used to a longer haircut than shorter ones. Besides, he isn't in the same social class as Yuri; for now, he decided that using hair gel would be the best he can do. After the XYZ Duelist managed to smooth out his naturally spiky hair using some gel he found in the bathroom, Yuri reminded him to head downstairs for breakfast, which he did.

Yuto followed the smell of Yoko's pancakes to the kitchen, where he met up with Yoko, Yusho, and Sora. "Well someone looks nice," Yoko commented.

"I was planning on speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Obsidian about the job offer," Yuto explained.

"Aww... So you're just going to leave us?" Sora sadly asked.

"I'll still remember to visit once Leo separates us," Yuto explained.

"I must say, Leo separating you and the other counterparts must be a lot of hard work," Yusho remarked. "Skip said Zuzu seems alright with it as well."

"I hope so too," Yuto agreed.

Meanwhile, at the Boyle residence, the Bracelet Girls were also getting ready for the day. Lulu, in particular, was taking a long time brushing her long, dark purple hair. She was already wearing her new look: a white sundress and silver sandals. The other girls wondered how long it will take for her to finish brushing her hair. Much like Yuto, she has a longer hairstyle than her Pendulum, Synchro, and Fusion counterparts.

"Come on, Lulu!" Rin exclaimed. "Wouldn't it be easier to have shorter hair?"

"I spent my whole life wanting to have long hair," Lulu explained. "So I have learned how to properly maintain it."

"How did you even manage to survive the Invasion?" Celina asked. "There had to be some instances when your hair caused a disadvantage for you."

"There weren't," Lulu recalled. "I know that could be a problem, but I'm an Obsidian. All the women from my family have learned to stay beautiful even under unfortunate events."

"I thought so," Celina remarked. "You look pretty okay for someone who dealt with a huge battle."

"That's not true," Lulu sadly admitted, setting her brush down on Zuzu's vanity.

The XYZ Duelist moved her long hair over her shoulder so that she could unzip the back of her dress. Zuzu, Rin, and Celina all gasped as they say what was on her back: a huge, deep scar. Lulu explained that she received it from one of the Ancient Gear Hunting Hounds during the Invasion; it has already healed, but the damage was still there. The other three girls felt awful that something like this happened to their XYZ counterpart. It was no wonder why she decided to keep her hair long.

"So you insist on having long hair to hide your scar?" Zuzu asked.

"Correct," Lulu answered, zipping up her dress. "The attack happened near the initial strike on Heartland. The damage was so bad that I had to get metal plates into my spine. It was why I had to sit out during most of the battles."

Zuzu comforted Lulu; battle scars are always hard to bear on one's body, so she reassured her it was completely okay of her to have long hair. She even said she's always available to talk to if there is anything troublesome. A soft smile formed in Lulu's face.

"Thanks," Lulu said, tying her hair up in a ponytail.

"You're welcome," Zuzu replied. "Besides, if you feel comfortable having long hair, you should keep it."

Lulu happily nodded her head. Initially, Shay, Yuto, and the Resistance were the only ones who knew about her injury. It was nice to know her counterparts were also there to help her out in coping with her scar. She even liked having long hair, so hearing Zuzu say that made her feel more at ease.

Speaking of Shay, he was in the middle of talking to Kameron and Astra, his and Lulu's parents, in Heartland. Ever since the Invasion, the two were thinking about pulling their son out of high school so that he can prepare himself for when he ends up taking control of the company.

"What?" Shay asked, sounding alarmed. "But I need the education."

"We understand that, son," Kameron said. "But that Invasion made us realize any unfortunate tragedy could leave us dead. It's a miracle we survived that horrible attack."

"What about my friends?" Shay asked. "I even have a dueling club at school."

"And we respect that," Astra said. "But your father is right. What if we were to die during another unexpected event? You need to prepare to take over ObsidianCorp at a given moment."

They do have a point. The Invasion resulted in so many people getting carded, including Kameron and Astra, and only one known fatality: Yuto's mother. Even though education was important to Shay, he also didn't want to take over the company unprepared. Knowing there is no point in arguing, he decided to accept his parents' request to get pulled out of school.

"Alright," Shay said. "I respect your decision."

"You'll thank us, Shay," Kameron said, patting his son on the shoulder. "ObsidianCorp is going to be all yours someday. You need to know how the company works."

The phone on the desk buzzed; the company's secretary told Kameron that someone is expecting to meet him and Astra. He told her to send them up to their office. A few minutes later, the doors opened and Yuto walked in, feeling a bit tense. This is finally the opportunity to introduce himself to Mr. and Mrs. Obsidian and to explain about how he is looking forward to their job offer.

Kameron let out a small chuckle. "Well if it isn't Yuto Osaku," he said. "It's good to finally meet you."

Suddenly, Yuto knelt before the co-bosses of ObsidianCorp. "It's an honor to finally meet you," he said. "I have come for the job offer you have promised me."

The poor guy can't help the fact that he's nervous. Shay reminded his eggplant-haired friend that there's nothing to be nervous about; his parents are really nice and they have been looking forward to meeting him. Yuto got up and apologized for how anxious he is about today. The two replied that it's completely fine—everyone gets nervous about preparing for their first jobs. He sat down in one of the two chairs in front of the desk and asked about this job offer.

"So what's the job offer?" Yuto asked, feeling more relaxed.

"We're glad you asked," Astra replied as she and Kameron sat behind their co-shared desk. "As you're aware of, an Invasion from the Fusion Dimension hit the city a few months ago. Since then, we have struggled to restore ObsidianCorp back into its original glory."

"And a while ago, my wife and I decided to prepare our company for any other attacks," Kameron continued. "So we need someone to run the company's new dueling branch to prep the other employees in case such an emergency struck again."

This job offer amazed Yuto. When he was but a shy, lonesome kid, he became one of the dueling club's members, and now he is given a chance to prepare the employees for other unexpected emergencies by making sure they hone their dueling skills. Most companies have duels for brain exercises and as hobbies, but this is the first time an actual company implemented a dueling branch, so no doubt this was some astonishing news.

Yuto accepted their job offer, but he was curious about when his first day will be. Astra asked if there was something else going on; the young teen's answer was "Yes…" for the most part. He and Shay both explained about how Leo is currently working on a way to separate Yuto and Lulu from their counterparts; it was still in its early stages, so he plans on starting once he and Shay's sister get their own bodies back without any mental consequences.

"Of course, Mr. Osaku," Astra said. "Lulu hasn't been able to come home ever since she vanished months ago. Shay explained everything to us, but we greatly miss her."

"In the meantime, we wish to see your dueling skills in action," Kameron informed.

"How come?" Yuto asked.

"So we can see if you're a good Duelist like Shay and Lulu said you are," Kameron explained. "If you really are the best, this shouldn't be a problem."

"Of course not," Yuto replied, even though he was freaking out on the inside.

In the shared mind, Yuya has been freaking out as well, but it was for a different reason. He couldn't believe he heard Yuto being addressed by his full name: Yuto Osaku. Sure, he thought Lulu mentioned his surname during the dance, but he was distracted by Zuzu at that point. Yugo and Yuri were also shocked about this revelation, but definitely not as shocked as Yuya.

The two tried to help their Pendulum counterpart relax, but he has so many questions. What was his life like with his mother outside of school? What did Ms. Osaku look like? Did the tomato-haired teen have any other relatives? Yuri eventually had to snap him out of his state and remind him of what their emotions can do to their decks. Yuya quickly realized this and checked his deck, only to find his Performapals have been switched with Yuto's Phantom Knights. He had been caught up in the heat of the moment that he didn't notice until after he was calmer. Since Yuto hasn't noticed about the second deck swap happening, the three agreed to remain silent.

Later on, Yuto was getting ready to duel against ObsidianCorp's simulation. He may be screaming internally over the thought of wanting to prove he's a good Duelist to Kameron and Astra, but at the same time, he was also determined for the very same reason. Just when he took out his deck to put it in his Duel Disk, he got a quick glance to see they were not his cards. Those were Yuya's! When did this even happen?! The rest of the Yu-Salad, especially Yuya, may have an explanation about this.

"I'm so sorry, Yuto!" Yuya exclaimed. "But I can’t stop thinking about how your last name is the exact same as my mom's maiden name!"

Now THAT was shocking to hear! Yuto's jaw dropped with eyes opened large, dropping Yuya's deck and his Duel Disk on the floor. So that means not only both their mothers are sisters, he and Yuya are cousins? Yugo and Yuri grew more surprised than they were earlier; they now know Yuya had a valid reason to freak out, but it didn't help ease their confusion. It was clear that there was more to Yoko and Ms. Osaku than meets the eye.

"Are you alright?" Kameron asked.

"I'm fine," Yuto replied, carefully picking up the deck and his Duel Disk.

"Your moms can't be sisters!" Yugo insisted. "They grew up in different dimensions!"

"Mom never even mentioned having a sister," Yuya recalled. Then he had an idea. "Hey Yuto, can you let me see your memories so I can see what your mom looked like?"

Yuto gave permission Yuya to do so under one condition: he has to remain deep within their shared mind so that it doesn't interfere with the duel against the simulation. Yuya nodded his head, but before he could do that, he gave the Phantom Knights back to Yuto, with the former receiving his Perfomapals. He wish his XYZ companion good luck before disappearing into the mind, with Yugo and Yuri following suit. Yuto placed his real deck into his Duel Disk; it was time for him to prove his worth to the Obsidian family company.

Elsewhere, the rest of the Yu-Salad traveled deep into their shared mind to look for Yuto's memories. Yuri questioned why Yugo was leading the way when they all know the way to the mind's depths. The latter responded that he remembers exactly where Yuto was watching his memories of his mother, resulting in Yuri rolling his eyes. Surprisingly, they found the very spot Yugo was looking for; the memories involving Ms. Osaku were still there, but instead of them being played on a loop, they were paused. Yuya ran to take a glimpse at Yuto's memories and settle this confusion. He noticed that she does look his mother, expect she had dark blonde hair and her eyes were wider and more feminine.

"No..." Yuya said, alarmed with seeing the resemblance. "This can't be!"

"Maybe she got caught up in the crossfire during the initial separation," Yugo guessed.

"What a wonderful idea," Yuri responded. "Except there's one problem."

"What's that?" Yugo asked.

"Neither of us had any mothers!" Yuri answered (referring to himself and the Synchro Duelist) as he slapped Yugo on the back of his head.

"Yuri's right," Yuya said, searching through the memories. "Besides, Yuto's mom looks slightly younger than mine."

Several minutes have passed and aside from her appearance, they hardly got any new information about Ms. Osaku. Now what? Yuto is probably still dueling against the simulation, so the best thing they can do for now is to wait for him to finish and tell him what they have managed to gather.

Meanwhile, with Yuto, his duel was progressing well. Right now, he just XYZ Summoned Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon and activated his effect. He detached one of his dragon’s Overlay Units to have him half the simulation's monster's 1000 ATK and have him gained that lost ATK. Now with an increased ATK of 3000, he declared his attack.

"I will now attack Deskbot Jet with Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon to conclude this duel," Yuto stated, deliberately controlling his dueling excitement to look more professional.

Dark Rebellion knew that he was in a professional environment and he had to get used to it by toning down his signature move, much to his annoyance. He calmly walked up to Deskbot Jet and mashed his head against the monster, reducing the simulation's LP to 0.

Kameron and Astra were impressed with how Yuto dueled while Shay smiled at his friend; he could tell this duel earned his the job offer.

"I'm impressed, Mr. Osaku," Kameron said. "My wife and have certainly made the right choice to hire you."

"Thank you, Mr. Obsidian," Yuto said. "I won't let you down."

"I should have known you were perfect by looking at the type of cards you were using," Astra added. "Only a noble person like you could wield the Phantom Knights. Lulu has a great choice in men."

Yuto did his best to hide his blush, but what Astra said was true. The Phantom Knights helped make him into the noble and chivalrous person he is, and Lulu's preferences in men led to the two dating; Astra and Kameron sure do approve of their relationship.

Later that day, after saying goodbye to the Obsidians, Yuya, Yugo, and Yuri asked how the duel went. Yuto answered that it went well, leading him to getting the job. The Yu-Salad were proud of their XYZ companion until they remembered that they have to let him know what information they got after checking his memories. Yuya told Yuto that Ms. Osaku looks like a younger, feminine version of his mother Yoko. Yuto asked if that was all they could gather and Yugo replied that they may have an idea on what her name is; they all said her name was Lono. Based on what was given, all four boys decided to ask Yoko if she knows anything about Lono.

"Who?" Yoko asked.

"Lono Osaku," Yuya repeated. "She looks so much like you, and I want to know if you have a sister."

"I'm sorry, but I never had any siblings," Yoko admitted.

This was bizarre; the boys are convinced that Lono is Yoko's sister, but how can she not know her? Either she was an only child or she doesn't remember her at all. Yuya asks if Declan is still at LID, and Yoko responded that he was. He has a feeling that Leo Corporation's CEO may help her out in figuring out this familial mystery. The tomato-haired teen told her that he was heading downtown to meet up with him, and a puzzled Yoko ended up following her son.

At LID, Declan was in his office when Henrietta noticed Yuya heading towards the duel school alongside his mother. The gray-haired teen saw them too; whatever the situation was, it must have been important or mysteriously intriguing. He paged Claude to let him know they can go up to his office once they enter the building. The doors soon opened, revealing Yuya and Yoko.

"Hello Yuya," Declan said. "It has been a long time since we spoke. What brings you here?"

"I demand some answers," Yuya insisted. "Who's Lono Osaku?"

"Why do you ask?" Declan asked.

"Because that was the name of Yuto's mother," Yuya answered. "You did research on Heartland before the Invasion. Who is she?"

Declan pulled out a couple of holographic pictures from his computer. "Lono Osaku was a woman living in Heartland. Not much is known about her prior to the dimensional split, but she raised Yuto as a single mother. While her parenting skills could be described as 'smothering' due to her kind heart, I do believe she raised Yuto properly."

Yoko looked at the displayed pictures; something about her seems familiar. Declan noticed her scanning the pictures and asked her if she was okay. She answered that she feels like she is starting to remember something.

"What happened to her?" Yuya asked. "According to Yugo, Yuto was in tears when he was remembering her."

"The Invasion happened," Declan exclaimed. "While I do not have any pictures of the event, I can tell you that Lono was killed by Obelisk Force."

"Then she should still be alright," Yuya said.

"I said killed, not carded," Declan emphasized. "She died shielding Yuto from getting killed by a Chaos Ancient Gear Giant. While it's true that everyone who was carded was brought back to life, there is no way to bring back Lono Osaku."

So that's why Yuto was upset, Yuya thought. She did a fantastic job raising him and was willing to sacrifice herself just to keep her only child safe. The poor guy really missed his mother.

Speaking of, he turned his head to see his own mother in tears. The added information must have helped her remember more; as a result, she ended up crying. Declan asked Yoko again if she was alright, only for her to respond that everything prior to the dimensional split is coming back to her. She then started mourning Lono's death and mentioned how she never got a chance to reunite with her Imōto ("younger sister" in Japanese). Yuya comforted his mother and helped her calm down.

"Lono was never interested in dueling," Yoko recalled once she calmed down. "She enjoyed watching duels, but she always thought I was the better Duelist. She was always there for support, even helping me out when I married Yusho." She laughed a little. "She was both the maid of honor and the wedding planner."

Yuto overheard this bit of information. He never knew his mother's past life because his timid nature prevented him from asking as a kid, as well as Lono focusing on taking care of her son up until the Invasion occurred. He felt a little guilty about not asking her in the first place; if he did, then there would be a chance of this mystery getting solved way earlier. Then again, Lono most likely ended up with amnesia when the dimensional split struck, so it wouldn't make a difference.

Yuya felt Yuto's presence nearby and asked his now revealed cousin if anything was on his mind. Sure enough, there was. He explained about how this mystery was his fault because he never learned about what other relatives he had besides his mother. Yuya was about to mention if he knew his father, but was cut off with a "Never knew him." He went on to say that it wasn't his fault; everyone learns about their family's history whether they're young or old. Besides, it was kind of amazing to know that he had been fighting alongside his cousin throughout the Interdimensional War and didn't realize they were related until now. After Yuya's reassurance, Yuto admitted that this revelation was rather interesting.

"I know we were part of Zarc, but I still like to think this new information makes us cousins," Yuto said.

"No kidding," Yuya agreed. "Funny how he made you the son of my aunt."

The two got a chuckle out of Yuya's remark. They knew Zarc's incarnations had individual lives, but they never thought it could make them related in a family. Their lives weren't the same ever since this discovery, but from the looks of this, they may have begun getting used to it.