Short Story + Post

[strongyuzu]

"Dad...look, there's something I have to know about!"

"O-of course...what is it, Yuzu?" Shuzo asked. He and Yuzu usually talked on the phone about once a week. But that was just about school, how she was doing in the Super Junior League, that kinda stuff. This time, she'd called him out of the blue demanding answers about something.

"My bracelet...where did it come from?! Did you get it for me from somewhere? Where is it from!?"

"Ah, well..." Shuzo rubbed his head, nervously. "Near as I can remember, you've always had it, even when you were a baby..." He said, kinda knowing that wasn't a good answer even as it came out of his mouth.

"Wh-who ever heard of a baby coming out with a bracelet?!" Yuzu snapped.

"L-look, all I know is that you've loved that bracelet ever since you were small! Whenever you didn't have it or you lost it...you would always get really upset. Once, you lost it and you cried all night until we eventually found it."

"That's..." Yuzu scratched her head. She...vaguely recalled something like that. She remembered her dad turning the house upside down...and she remembered being really relieved when he had found it. But why would she be so attached to a simple piece of jewelry?! Only one thing occurred to her that made sense. "...is it..." She looked at the silver bracelet on her wrist.

"Dad...is this...did this bracelet belong to my mom?"

Silence hung on the line for a long, long time after that.

"Yuzu..." On the other end of the line, Shuzo's eyes quietly shut.

"I-I know...you don't. Remember."

"I wish I did, Yuzu. I really do."

They'd had this conversation a lot of times before. Neither of them remembered anything about the woman that was Yuzu's mother and might've been Shuzo's wife. It didn't make even a little bit of sense, but...it was what they'd had to live with and they tried not to think about it too hard. It was a huge part of both of them that just felt like it. Wasn't there. Thinking about that kinda thing too much was just a little bit too painful.

"Don't suppose you know anything my twin sister, either," Yuzu said sardonically. That actually got a laugh out of Shuzo.

"If I did, don't you think I'dve told everybody about it by now!? Even if she is apparently a troublemaker!"

"A really bad troublemaker! She keeps doing stuff and I keep getting blamed for it!" She said with a huff. A moment after she spoke, she let out a breath. "...dad," she said, nervously. "...some weird stuff's been happening around me lately. Not like. The normal weird stuff that always happens here and at school, but I think, stuff that might...actually. Directly involve me."

"...because of your bracelet, right?" Shuzo asked.

"M-mmn." Yuzu sounded nervous. "...I-I've known about magic and spirits and stuff for a while now, but I just. I thought...that stuff only happened to others and I was totally normal. But I'm starting to think." She looked at the gem in her bracelet. "...m-maybe there might be some weird stuff about me too." She hesitated for a good moment or so before pushing forward. "What if. What if there's a good reason that I don't remember anything about my mom? And what if...it has something to do with my bracelet?"

"Yuzu..." Shuzo could tell where she was going with this. He wanted to encourage Yuzu, always...but he didn't want her to get her hopes up, only to be disappointed later.

"I-I know, dad," Yuzu said, catching herself. "I was just. Thinking out loud, I guess." She let out a sigh. "The truth is, I wouldn't even know where to begin figuring out what's up with my bracelet."

"Ahhh, well, you should be able to do something with that, at least!" Shuzo said, not wanting his daughter to get discouraged. "You told me about those psychics you helped, and those Barian guys and your teachers...one of them has to know something about it! Right?!"

"...mmn! You're right!" Yuzu nodded. "I'll ask my teachers! And Jeanette! And the Barians! And Juudai-san! I'm sure at least one of them can help me figure out what it really is!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, YUZU! SHOW THEM YOUR RESOLVE! MOERO! NEKKETSU DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Yuzu had to hold the phone back from her ear whenever he did that.

---

Soooooooo.

Who here knows stuff about magic.

Specifically, like. Magic items? That do magic stuff?

Just. Curious, not really asking for any specific reason here.

Also, um. Yuya and Sora. Sorry for running away from you guys like that! I was just a little...freaked out. By some stuff.

Comments

[theheadmonarch]

Meeeeeeeeeee~~~~

[strongyuzu]

Ah, sensei!

Do you know stuff about, like...

Magic items? Specifically...maybe like, jewels or stones that might be magic?

[theheadmonarch]

That's a vague question, Miss Hiiragi.

It's like asking "Do you know about clouds".

What kind of magical jewels are you asking about. What properties.

[strongyuzu]

Um.

The kind that are. Magic?

And. Make stuff disappear?

[theheadmonarch]

Any specific properties to this disappearing. Is it complete destruction? Invisibility? Teleportation?

Any specific trigger you're aware of?

[frightfulfusion]

No big. But we're going to need to make up for lost time.

Which means you're going to make sure you can use all your free time with me. If possible.

And we're going to have to really hit the books. Literally and figuratively.

[strongyuzu]

Well I was already using basically all my free time at the Duel College...

...

...w-wait, we're gonna literally hit books?

[frightfulfusion]

Some days, Yuzu, I wonder if you're just oblivious or not...

No, you're going to be pulling long nights reading books and doing Duel Training/Practice with me.

And maybe a bit of physical training. But no promises.

[strongyuzu]

You said hit the books and then literally! What was I supposed to think?!

[memoryistime]

... I've got some knowledge about magical stuff.

[strongyuzu]

Do you know about magical items?

Like, um, specifically...magic. Jewels. Maybe?

[memoryistime]

I know about a few types, but you have to be more specific about what you might wanna know.

... it wouldn't happen to be about any small crystals, would it?

[strongyuzu]

M-maybe! Maybe it would!

[the_ebbandflow]

Why do you wanna know about magical stuff?

[strongyuzu]

W-well, y'know...

We live in a world full of magical stuff! It pays to know about it, right?!

[the_ebbandflow]

Ha, I guess so!

But you wanna know about stuff like jewels?

[strongyuzu]

Hey! That's in another thread! Who said you could read that!

[i_like_red]

Well, I've had some experience with crazy magical items before, but most items tend to have a lot of individual powers, so it's difficult to explain about them unless you're looking for a specific kind of thing.

[strongyuzu]

Ummm.

Okay.

Well, the specific item. Might be my bracelet.

[i_like_red]

Your bracelet?
Can you explain what it's been doing?

Though, if you'd rather talk in private, rather than here, I can arrange that for you.

[strongyuzu]

That...

I think that'd be better, thank you.

Can we meet the next time I'm in the city? I come in every day to go to the Super Junior League.

[pendulum_soul]

I don't really know what happened, but it's fine, Yuzu.
Are you feeling okay?

[strongyuzu]

It's...

Complicated.

Some weird stuff has been happening lately. It's kinda starting to pile up.

[pendulum_soul]

Guess I know a little about weird stuff and how overwhelming it can get.
But... if you ever want to talk about it at all, I'm here.

[strongyuzu]

...would it be okay if.

We met up, somewhere?