Occasionally Pointless Rants of an Authoress

One year ago today, Yusuke was accepted to Econtra. Therefore, I'm doing what I usually do, and so here is my (becoming traditional) summary of his first year.

He was pulled in on November 25. Nothing in particular was going on at the time in the compound, really, but it is notable to say that his first mention in canon was all of six weeks and four days before he was brought in. I'm not sure anymore exactly why I had a muse for him that early, but I did, and... yeah. I've never regretted it. ^^

His initial post was met by several people, which both helped him to get his bearings and, admittedly, somewhat confused him. Specifically, he spoke to Marufuji Ryou, one of his best friends from his time at the Academy who had presumed him to be dead all this time; the first AU Yuuki Judai, who Yusuke had met his version of but who didn't recognize him (which confused him), but they got along well; Gaston, who kind of freaked him out in his search for his (at the time) wife-to-be; and Tenjoin Fubuki. This last one deserves a new sentence because, quite frankly, they were best friends back in their first year, and Darkness' mask served as testiment to Yusuke's mark on Fubuki's life, but somehow or other... Fubuki didn't remember that he existed.

Of course, not everything added up, and the fact that a (seeming) stranger would know so much about Darkness was a little bit unsettling, so the two of them decided to meet outside. And after a discussion and some pulling-together of thoughts, Fubuki recovered his memory, and Yusuke learned of the problems that the mask had caused his best friend, not to mention his best friend's other best friends (and sister).

Some time after this, Yusuke visited Fubuki's room and met Otogi Ryuuji, a famous game designer, a half-djinn, and Fubuki's boyfriend. Tension was rather high, as Darkness was responsible for the worst week of Otogi's life, and Yusuke was responsible for Darkness - in fact, Otogi even had a crystal prepared, to show Yusuke exactly what had happened. But Otogi shattered that crystal instead, deciding that he would give Yusuke a chance.

When the mistletoe decided to go around the compound, Yusuke got stuck under a sprig of it, and was unable to leave until he shared a kiss with someone - and that someone was Ryou. Absolutely no one knew it at the time, but this would be the first of many. ^^

Watanuki Kimihiro's Dream World plot affected Yusuke's dreams somewhat, to the point where he wound up having a few small nightmares. But they've since been forgotten. And for the winter holidays, he gave the few friends he had made various stone-based presents. I, personally, am still amused - it wasn't until February that canon would show off that his deck is, in fact, monsters inside of crystals.

In early January, Fubuki, Ryou, and Yusuke had a party to celebrate their respective birthdays - for Econtra purposes, after all, they all occur in January, relatively close together. At this little gathering, they plotted to prank Chronos-sensei by putting paper on his door (this never actually got off the ground, I don't think, but that's not the point), and it was revealed that... yeah. Being away in alternate dimensions for a few years had left Yusuke kind of unaware of much of society. Thus was he surprised to find out that, yes, indeed, those kinds of magazines exist; they're not just legends or rumors. Hehehe...

Of course, on his own birthday, something strange happened. Thanks to Kuroki Mio and the various fake Kupi plushies that she had spread around the compound, his own abilities pertaining to Darkness were rendered unable to be turned off. It wasn't too big of a deal while it was happening - it also prevented him from tiring out from overuse for the duration - but he did, by accident, run into Tenjoin Asuka during this time. He'd, admittedly, been avoiding Fubuki's younger sister, because of what had happened in her own world, but now was when she learned about the truth of the matter.

During this plot, meanwhile, Ryou wound up with the same mindset as he'd had at the beginning of his Hell Kaiser phase, as opposed to the one he'd developed after a year of that. As such, he was looking for duels. And Yusuke gave him one, and lost. Not that he was bothered.

After Kupi plot, of course, the backlash of exhaustion hit, and Yusuke wound up unconscious for a few days from exhaustion. During this, the compound was shifted around, but he got used to it quickly once he woke up. Of course, during the Yubal plot, he was attacked by plush cats, managing to lock them in the bathroom, but that was really all of his involvement there.

It is approximately here that Yusuke and Ryou began to show that they were developing feelings for each other. To be specific, this is when the first singing plot occurred. And as the songs existed to expose one's deepest feelings, both Ryou and Yusuke wound up accidentally singing about their feelings toward each other. Which, of course, Fubuki picked up on right away, but Ryou was in denial and Yusuke, having never experienced it before, didn't know what it was. Soon after the song plot ended, Ryou asked Yusuke to dinner - his (valid) excuse was that they hadn't seen each other in years, and they'd barely spoken since either of them had gotten to Econtra, so they needed to catch up. (Of course, Fubuki still saw right through this, but Ryou was still in denial and Yusuke was naive.)

Then came February the fourteenth, Valentine's Day. ♥

Mrs. Lovett had set out pies around the compound, laced with love potion. And both Yusuke and Ryou happened to have found pies laying around, waited an amount of time to see if anyone would come to claim them, and when they weren't claimed, decided that they couldn't pass up their favorite kinds of pie.

As soon as each of them exited their respective rooms, the first people they saw were each other. And Yusuke fainted on the spot, the unfamiliar emotional and hormonal overload too much for him to handle. Ryou brought him back to his own room and cared for him until Yusuke felt well enough to leave on his own, but there was no ignoring the fact that it felt so very comfortable.

After the pie's effects had worn off, Yusuke found himself wondering just what that feeling was, as well as why it was still there, albeit not as overwhelming as it had been before. Asking Fubuki gave him the answer that he was in love, but he still wasn't sure of what to make of it.

Of course, that dilemma went unsolved for a little while as Himawari Kunogi's Smoke Plot began, and Yusuke now had a pair of cat ears and a tail. Ryou, incidentally, wound up with what has been described as "all the impulse control and ability to focus of damp toast", and as the two of them spent some time together, Ryou wound up having the uncontrollable impulse to pet Yusuke's ears, as well as to kiss him. Not that Yusuke minded.

It was after the smoke plot was over, and during a get-together involving hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, that Ryou and Yusuke determined that they were, in fact, seeing each other. And it was a very nice, happy feeling.

Unfortunately, this would be interrupted with the arrival of OU Yuuki Judai, also known as Haou. And interrupted is... well, a rather weak word to use to describe it.

See, when Haou arrived, Ryou told him that he knew what would happen in the future, being from Haou's relative future and all that. So, Haou challenged him to a duel, and with his deck still not completely finished yet, Ryou was unable to win. And therefore, Haou decided to use force to get Ryou to tell him about it.

Ryou lied, telling Haou that it was Johan Andersen who had defeated him and caused him to leave his Haou stage. And Haou, not knowing any better, accepted this lie for the moment. Yusuke helped Ryou back to his apartment, getting him comfortable and fixed up and stuff. To quote: "Nothing could possibly take away the happiness he felt whenever he was around Ryou. Nothing."

Most. Dramatic. Irony. EVER.

Because... Ryou kind of screened a post to the rest of the GX cast letting them know that he'd lied to Haou, and Saotome Rei was possessed by Yubel at the time, and she... kind of sort of decided to let it slip to Haou that he'd done so. Which caused Haou to get insanely pissed and decide to punish Ryou for his lie...

...by brainwashing him into his servant. Thus began the Haou's Shadow plot, or "What Happened in March", as I refer to it. Even though it spilled into April.

Riza Hawkeye was the one who mentioned in her journal that Om-Ennea had been trashed, and Yusuke got worried, especially when he went over to see the damage for himself - Ryou's cards were everywhere, some of his hair was everywhere, everything seemed to point to someone having hurt him. This was only confirmed a little while later, as Otogi, Arwen, and everyone concerned about Ryou gathered in that room so that they could replay what happened using their combined magic.

Much as magic didn't tend to lie - and it didn't lie - when Yusuke spotted Ryou walking across the compound on March fourteenth - White Day - he didn't want to believe it was true. But it was, in fact, undeniable - Ryou was now Haou's Shadow. (Though, an unconscious action of his to pull out the pendant Yusuke had given him for Christmas proved that he was still in there, albeit only as a .1% free entity.)

This entire chain of events, of course, sent Yusuke into a rather depressed state. He became convinced that had he stayed in the room, had he not left, this wouldn't have happened, Ryou wouldn't be like this. Of course, everyone he said anything of the sort to told him that it might have been worse had he been in there - it could be both of them as Haou's Shadows, or perhaps physical harm would have come about - but he still refused to believe them.

The .1% of Ryou that was free was something to be taken into account, as was noted when he managed to send Yusuke three pieces of quartz - clear, for healing; rose, for love; smokey, for ridding of negative energies, though it was only revealed for sure that it was him who sent them after the duel that occurred between Fubuki (also involving Darkness) and Haou's Shadow. Also, a conversation with Ishida Yamato, one of Fubuki's friends, helped Yusuke to calm down about the situation.

It was confirmed that Ryou was still in there - the question was just how to break the control and get him back. But this unfortunately had to be put in the back of the priorities list for a time, as the Mod Plot occurred, and everyone had to focus on just one thing - survival.

Incidentally, in the initial round of earthquakes, Ryou... kind of sort of halfway broke his arm and needed to go to the infirmary to have it fixed up. There was ash everywhere, and Haou didn't go with him, and Yusuke just happened to be outside, so he extended his shields to protect Ryou from the ash and accompanied him to the infirmary. He probably would have done so even if Haou was around.

He spent the rest of Mod Plot, once the rogue Entropi arrived and began attacking, helping people to get to the shelter set up at the Arena. He was shaken by the fact that one of his roommates, Zolf Kimblee, was killed, and was worried for the safety of everyone he knew, but he attempted to stay strong.

After the move to the new compound, he chose the room Paj-Dyo - Haou and Ryou had moved into Paj-Tria, and he, like a large amount of the GX cast, wanted to be as close as he could, in order to keep an eye on Ryou. (To this day, Paj is still the most heavily concentrated area of GX residence.)

Haou's Shadow soon challenged Yusuke to a duel, and he accepted, resigned to the fact that he would probably lose, but still hoping that he'd be able to win and break Haou's control. He did, in fact, lose, but he resigned himself to not showing any signs of weakness until he was far out of sight.

But then, after Ryou's brother Sho arrived (the first AU Sho, the one who I thiiiiiiiiiiiink beat one of the Stars?), hope appeared, in the form of a vision by the psychic wolf Larka - specifically pointing out the ways in which various I Know You Are In There Somewhere Fights pertaining to the card game Duel Monsters had been won. *shot for linking to TVTropes* And so everyone got an idea - why not create a deck filled with cards that represent just about everyone close to Ryou? That would surely break him free!

Mutou Yugi was chosen to be the duelist to challenge Haou's Shadow, and among the various people who contributed, Yusuke let them borrow Honest (after asking his guardian spirit to stop referring to him by the word Master and to just use his first name. Honest... hasn't quite managed to remember without being prodded since then, but). Honest and the Red Eyes Black Dragon formed a beautiful fusion, the Red Eyes Celestial Dragon, which was, after everything else, the final blow that broke Haou's control over Ryou once and for all.

(It was during the duel, incidentally, that Yusuke first uttered the words "I love you".)

Fubuki and Yusuke helped Ryou back to Yusuke's room in Paj-Dyo, and Yusuke spent the next few days watching over him until he gathered the strength to wake up completely. Once he did, though, there was much rejoicing, confession of mutual love, walking in on two kisses by Fubuki, and noticing that Ryou's arm could use medical attention. He promised that he would get it looked at and fixed eventually.

Shortly after this, Ryou officially moved all of his stuff into Yusuke's room so that they could live together and, more importantly, away from Haou. Eventually, Yusuke found the pendant that he'd given Ryou, which Haou had returned, crushed. It worried him that Ryou hadn't told him about it, and he assured him that he didn't have to keep anything from him.

It was a few days after this that OU Yuuki Judai decided that he was going to come out of his Haou stage and attempt to make things better. Not that Yusuke was willing to forgive or trust him, especially right away, but he decided not to be openly hostile.

When Otogi was kidnapped by the Leviathan inside of OU Atem, Yusuke went with the rescue party to help. Not that his abilities wound up very necessary, but. After Otogi was freed, Ryou decided that a bonfire in the Park would be a good idea (in part... well, mostly to get rid of the clothing he had worn as Haou's Shadow), and Yusuke provided the flames for it.

In the months that followed, things were relatively peaceful. Yusuke and Ryou continued to develop their relationship with each other, going on walks in the Park together, finding that they'd accidentally fallen asleep in the same bed on May 14th but not complaining about it, being mutually affected by the Horny Plot and going somewhat further than they were used to, things like that. Ryou's arm still hadn't been looked at at this point, incidentally - at that point, they made him wait until Otogi returned so that he could look at it once and for all.

During the transformation plot at the end of June (can't remember which one this was...), Yusuke was turned into a laptop persocom. He was unaffected by the age-changing plot that occurred right afterwards, though it didn't happen before the extended GX cast got together to honor Chronos-sensei, who had vanished from Econtra. It was at this gathering that Yusuke decided to tell OU Yuuki Judai that he wasn't going to forgive or trust him any time soon, but he was willing to give him a second chance and be on speaking terms. It's a start.

This, of course, is approximately when the new AU Yuuki Judai showed up. Yusuke has never met him when he was awake, but this Judai found out from Yugi about What Happened in March, and without even consulting Ryou's feelings on the matter (which, Yusuke feels, are what matters here), has decided to despise OU with all his being and attempt to kill and/or severely harm in other ways him and his boyfriend, Johan Andersen, on more than one occasion. Yusuke hasn't said anything to him to date about it, what with his own insanely complicated feelings on the matter, but he's certainly not particularly happy with it, preferring to just not think about it.

Ryou and Fubuki, among other people, were kidnapped by Yubel near the end of July, which made Yusuke very upset. He probably would have challenged Yubel to a duel himself for their freedom, if OU Yuuki Judai wasn't already dueling her, or if he hadn't manipulated Super Fusion's power to merge himself and Yubel.

Yusuke was hit with the truth plot that happened around here, causing his deep inner fears of being forgotten and/or abandoned to come to the surface for a time. Though, he himself mostly just considers them to be irrational fears, really. (Incidentally, the Japanese verb wasureru (忘れる) can mean either to forget or to leave behind, which can lead to several different interpretations of that fear, actually...)

In mid-August, Yusuke auditioned for an honorary position in a League of Superheroes, the purpose of which would be to help the compound. However, due to OOC issues I had with the other mun in question that rendered me uncomfortable playing with them, ahem because there were so few spots available, Yusuke didn't quite make the cut. Not that he minds too much - he can still help in his own way, after all.

The necklace he'd made from the pieces of quartz that Ryou had sent him during What Happened in March later went missing, stolen by Minamimoto Sho during the Heap Plot. Yusuke didn't have too much time to look for it, however, as I needed to go on hiatus and he was struck by a strong, exhausting fever for a week, during which time he was more or less unconscious. AU Yuuki Judai took a look into his mind during this week to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong, but that's about all that happened. Ryou took good care of him during his fever.

During Morgana's transformation plot, Yusuke was turned into a black Netherland Dwarf rabbit. Which, actually, wasn't such a bad thing, since Ryou was de-aged during that time.

Eventually, another version of Yusuke arrived in the compound - let's refer to him here as Fujiwara, for clarity's sake. So far, Yusuke has no reason to distrust Fujiwara, though there are a few things he's said that kind of worry him a little.

During October's Mod Plot, when everyone was hallucinating their deaths, Yusuke found himself unable to access the power of Darkness. And faced with death and the inability to even attempt to delay it using his powers, he regretted, for the first time, ever selling his soul to Darkness, because this meant that he would never see Ryou again. However, as they were faced with their impending doom, Ryou asked if, were circumstances different, Yusuke would marry him.

Yusuke, of course, said yes. And when they awoke to find that they weren't, in fact, deceased, they affirmed that yes, in fact, both of them meant it.

Most recently, Yusuke's Clear deck was stolen by Jing and made to appear destroyed. Immediately, of course, Yusuke freaked out. And AU Princess Mercury was certainly no help, refusing to believe that objects could be important, not even blinking when she was told that the Clear cards held souls inside of them, and in general not being compassionate in the least. Which I personally don't understand, actually, since I recall Mercury to be a rather considerate person, and Princess Mercury is not Dark Mercury, but that's a moot point right here. Conversations with Mr. Eko and Fujiwara helped Yusuke to calm down at least a little bit and have a little hope that, perhaps, the cards weren't destroyed, but that still didn't stop him from lashing out at Jing when they actually met.

The cards were returned after issues with Belldandy were settled, but Yusuke still doesn't forgive or trust Jing in the least, and won't even be on true speaking terms for a long time, if ever.

But yeah. At this point, Yusuke's happy to be alive, happy to be with Ryou, happy that his friends are all right, and intent on doing what he can to protect everything he cares about.

And the Year in Review.

November 2007: I seem to be stranded in a dimension that I’ve never been to before. It feels sort of like the one I come from, but I know it isn’t, because I was just at Duel Academy.

December 2007: I checked my deck earlier - Honest is still there. He can't come out of the card right now, but we were able to talk.

January 2008: Well, um... I've seen that other people have been doing this, and it looked like it would be kind of fun, so...

If anyone wants to ask me three questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

February 2008: I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.

[Note: This was during the singing plot. These are song lyrics.]

March 2008: It's so nice to know... that he feels the same way about me that I do about him.

April 2008: Cold...

so cold and blank...

May 2008: Thank you for the cake, Yamato. ^^

June 2008: I'm sorry to hear about your brother leaving... but I'm sure he's fine, back home. I didn't get to know him very well, but he seemed like the type who can take care of himself, definitely.

July 2008: ...This one's rather soon after the last one. I mean, I think I escaped this time unaffected, but usually there's more than a one-week break between them...

August 2008: ...thought I asked you to stop that...

September 2008: There was yelling across the hall, and then I could have sworn I heard a crash of thunder.

I wonder what that was.

October 2008: I'm... not sure if I want to know what this is...

November 2008: It's getting colder, outside.

I guess it's that time of year, isn't it...

So, yeah. One whole year for Yusuke. Here's to another one that's just as epic!