Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Rise of the King: Chapter 1: Orphan
Characters: Yubel, Juudai, Brron
Word Count: chapter: 1,615||story: 1,615
Genre: Drama, Angst||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Advent Calendar Challenge, Day #17 & Diversity Challenge, section H, #22: fic that is T rated
Notes: This takes place in an AU. In fact, this is the same AU as Dangers of Silence. Kinda spoilers for that?
Summary: [1/6 chapters, Juudai & Yubel, Advent Calendar Challenge Day #17 & Diversity Challenge, au: other] A burglar. A break-in. A bad bit of timing. And Yubel does what Yubel must do, for Yubel will protect Juudai, no matter what.

Lights and noises rang out, keeping Juudai from sleeping, and people rushed everywhere, not one of them anyone that Yubel knew, and that was not something Yubel liked at all. It was night; everything should be quiet, and Juudai should be asleep. Yet there could be no sleep with all of this racket.

Yubel wished it were possible for others to have the same kind of sight that Juudai did. Then perhaps someone would bother to explain what all of the fuss was about, and Juudai could get his rest.

"We need to get you out of here." The words came from a uniformed man as he stepped into Juudai's bedroom. "Don't worry about your things. They'll be brought later."

Juudai blinked a few times, holding Yubel's card close to him. Ever since the noise woke him up, he'd kept it close, as he always did whenever something bothered him. Yubel ran fingers soothingly through his hair and gave the stranger a harsh look that he didn't see.

"What's wrong? Where are Mom and Dad?" Juudai didn't move off his bed. His parents had taught him well; he wasn't to go anywhere with strangers, not without them there.

The uniformed man gave a small, tight smile. "It's really important that you get out of here now. Your parents wouldn't want you to be hurt."

Juudai's eyes flicked to Yubel, who didn't like this at all. One hand rested on Juudai's shoulder for a few seconds.

"Go with him for now, Juudai. I'll come and get you once I find out what's going on."

The officer frowned as Juudai started to reach for his deck. "I said your things would come later."

"This is my deck." Juudai gave him a look that most seven year olds couldn't have mustered. "I don't go anywhere without my deck."

A long sigh exuded from his lips. "Fine. But hurry up. We don't have all night."

Juudai tucked the deck into a pocket of his pajamas and hurried out after the older man. Yubel hovered behind him until he stood outside, staring around at everything with huge eyes. Everything was even more chaotic out here than it was inside, people going in and out of the house, treating it as if it were their own, neighbors quietly peering out from their windows and doors, whispering to one another.

Yubel's dislike of the situation grew with each passing moment. Finding out what was going on wouldn't be easy at all; like all spirits, Yubel couldn't move very far from her card, which remained in Juudai's possession. But as it turned out, there wasn't much need to go very far.

"All three of them?" Another uniformed officer, this one older and with a more serious demeanor, spoke to someone in a white uniform.

"None of them survived," the one in the white uniform agreed. "The parents... it was quick for them." She shook her head, lips turned downward. "I don't think they even knew what was going on. But him... I'm still not entirely sure of what happened. Only that he's as dead as they are."

Yubel froze on the spot. Dead? Juudai's parents? It couldn't be. Such a thing could not have happened. But who else could they be speaking of, if it wasn't them?

"Mama! Papa!" Juudai's startled shriek sent her flying back to him within a speed that put the wind to shame. He stood in front of the house, eyes large and wide, face as pale as a ghost, staring as two bodies were carried out, wrapped up to keep whatever wounds had laid them low from sight.

But Juudai knew his parents and he stared, shaking like a leaf. Yubel knelt down beside him at once, arms enfolded around him. Her powers were still limited in this world, but she could provide him a shoulder to cry on, no matter what.

"What about him?" She heard the officer who'd brought Juudai out asking someone. "Does he have any relatives who can take him in?"

"I don't know. We're going to have to start looking. Maybe one of the neighbors can take him in for the night."

Yubel didn't like the sound of either of those options. She knew that Juudai didn't have any other relatives; she'd paid enough attention to his parents talking to know that. That led to other thoughts, ones that she didn't like at all.

What do they do with children who don't have parents? That had never been a question she'd needed to deal with before. But now with Juudai sobbing against her, it became of utmost importance.

No. What they did with orphans meant nothing at all. What mattered was what she was going to do with Juudai.

There was no way that she would let any harm come to him, and there was no one in this world that she trusted to take care of him now that his parents were gone. She would have to take him somewhere else, somewhere where she could watch over him until he grew strong enough to take care of himself.

That had been her task for a very long time. And Yubel saw no reason at all for that to change in this world.

Juudai didn't think he had another tear left in him. He wasn't even certain of how long he'd cried. He'd heard people telling him things, but none of them meant a word to him. They weren't Mom or Dad. They weren't Yubel. Those were the only voices he wanted to hear.

Yubel stayed near him the whole time. He didn't know what she was thinking, but he knew the look on her face when she was thinking something. All through the night her hands brushed through his hair, doing what she could to comfort him. It wasn't easy to feel her, but he did his best, knowing that she liked that.

He started to call to her, wanting to ask what was on her mind aside from all of this weird stuff, when a voice he knew quite well spoke up.

"Juudai?"

"Osamu-nii-chan?" He blinked to see his favorite dueling buddy there, his parents with him, wrapped up a robe and looking concerned. "What are you doing here?"

The older boy came over to him and bent down, a sad little smile on his lips. "You're going to come stay with us for a while. It might be a long while, so is there anything else you need?"

Juudai didn't quite understand all of that and looked up at Yubel. She looked back at him, still with thoughts on her mind that he didn't understand, but whispered softly to him. "You'll need clothes. You already have your deck. That's it for now."

He repeated that to Osamu, who nodded and headed inside. Juudai huddled where he was, eyes drifting now and then to the window of his parents' room. He knew they were gone. He'd seen the bodies. He remembered hearing them talk about when people died a few months earlier, when they hadn't thought he was awake yet.

When people die, they don't ever come back, he thought. That had to mean them too. They weren't going to come back. So what was going to happen to him? Would he stay with Osamu's family forever? Would Osamu really be his brother now?

As long as he had Yubel, he decided, that would be all right. It wouldn't be so bad to have Osamu as a brother.

Yubel watched Osamu cautiously. She didn't fully trust him. He wasn't a bad person; she would never have let him live this long around Juudai if he was. But he could not see spirits and he did not understand Juudai's connection to her or to his deck. While that could be annoying during commonplace duels, it wasn't the kind of attitude that someone like Juudai needed to grow up with.

Her only answer was growing clearer and clearer. It would take her some time to dredge up the energy for it, and she might need Juudai's help to completely accomplish it.

There was also the unlikely chance that Osamu would grow to understand Juudai better and allow him to grow in the ways that he should. She would grant him a little time to attempt this.

But she would also gather her energy during this trial period, and when it came to an end, if he wasn't being what Juudai needed, then she would take Juudai to those who could help him better.

Before too long, Osamu and his parents took Juudai back to their house and tucked him up in a spare bedroom. He was sound asleep, clutching still to Yubel's card, before five more minutes passed.

Osamu watched him from the door, a faintly amused smile on his lips. It was one still touched with sadness; tonight had been awful, after all. But to see Juudai clinging to that card...well, it was still a little cute.

"Do you think we'll be able to keep him?" His mother asked his father softly. "He doesn't have any other relatives."

"It's possible. We can try. He and Osamu get along very well."

Osamu glanced over his shoulder. He liked the idea of Juudai staying. Though he hoped that if he did, Juudai would grow out of clinging to that card. It kind of made him nervous when Juudai talked about the cards as if they were more than just cards.

Well, he needed to get back to sleep himself. Tomorrow was going to come too soon for his liking.

Juudai slept onward, and Yubel watched over him, the faithful guardian she had always been.

To Be Continued

Note: This story will update once a day for the next few days, until I've finished it.