Chapter Text
It was a lovely spring day and Judai didn’t have much on his schedule, so when Ace invited him, as well as Yuu plus Grim, to come watch Night Raven College’s basketball game against Royal Sword Academy, hosted at the other school, Judai agreed. It was rather cool to see the rival school in person, the blue and white fairytale architecture was lovely to see in person. The game, on the other hand….
“Is this how the game is supposed to be played?” Yuu asked from their seats in the stands.
“We did basketball once in PE at Duel Academy…” Judai said, “But it ended up in a duel…not a brawl…”
“And it’s all the same team…” Yuu sighed and shook his head.
On the court, all members of the Night Raven team had gotten into a fight over who would do a certain play. The members of the Royal Sword team watched for a bit, before shrugging and continued to play the game around the brawling team, scoring point after point.
The winner was quickly declared after that.
Judai, Yuu, and Grim waited for Ace after the match, who was joined by Floyd. Jamil was briefly seen, but he quickly mounted a broomstick to fly back to Night Raven. No doubt to ensure Kalim hadn’t gotten into trouble.
“That was…interesting.” Yuu admitted as they left Royal Sword and headed into town.
“So was the other team that good? Or were you just that bad?” Grim asked, “You did start fighting during the game.”
“Can you not?” Ace sighed in defeat, “We could have won if Floyd didn’t check out in the second half!”
“Excuse me?” Floyd gave Ace a sharp glare, “You got a problem with how I was playing? Mr. Benchwarmer?”
Ace hid behind Judai, “I was just saying that we lost a huge asset!” Ace pleaded for his life.
“Whatever…” Floyd lazily crossed his arms behind his head, “Game was boring…”
“You know…you could win if you don’t fight each other.” Yuu suggested in a teasing tone, “You might get better results.”
“And let someone else get the glory?” Ace was flabbergasted, “I don’t think so!!!”
“So…they do know that basketball is a team sport…right?” Yuu whispered to Judai.
“I think they do…but teamwork might not be in their vocabulary.” Judai whispered back.
“Anyway…wanna get something to eat?” Ace asked the group, “Since we’re in town?”
“You paying?” Floyd coily asked.
“You wanna treat your precious underclassmen?” Ace countered.
“Ladies, ladies, you’re both pretty…” Judai interrupted them, “Let’s just find somewhere cheap and get our own meals.”
“Oi! Judai! Over here!”
Judai snapped up at hearing Yuma’s voice, not expecting to hear the other duelist. Yuma was across the square waving at them standing with Jack and oddly…Jade.
“Yo Jade!” Floyd called out to his brother, “Whatcha doing here?”
“Yuma and I needed to get some new clothes and he…” Jack pointed to Jade, “Invited himself along.”
“I was simply curious about what clothing stores beastfolk frequent, and what manner of clothes they choose.” Jade with his trademark smile, “So I decided to accompany Jack and observe him as he shopped.”
“You liar…” Jack said, “Observe my tail, you keep trying to get me to try on random things you think I’d look funny in! Then you got Yuma on board with your plan!”
“But it was fun!” Yuma protested.
Jade just ignored the comments, “So what brings your group out here, Floyd? I believe the school is in the opposite direction.”
“Crabby said he was gonna treat us to burgers.”
“I said no such thing!” Ace cried out.
“We’re paying for our own meals, but would you like to join us for company?” Yuu asked.
“I’m always down for food!” Yuma said.
“I usually prefer small groups, but I could use the distraction after dealing with him…” Jack sent another glare to Jade, who just smiled as usual.
“Great! There’s a burger place Cater told me about close by.” Ace said, “It should be within all of our budgets.”
………………
Yuya was really glad he stuck with Kalim while Jamil was out, because Kalim spontaneously wanted to go into town with Ortho to find some study guides to help him in his make-up classes. And boy was the market square busy today.
You should put him on a leash. Yuri ‘helpfully’ suggested.
We are not putting him on a leash like a dog! Yugo argued back.
But does he not act like a dog sometimes?
Can both of you stop it? Yuto sighed. Yuya needs to focus.
Yuya was grateful that Yuto acted as a mediator in his head. Internal mental arguments were very distracting.
“Let’s check out this store!” Kalim tried to run off.
“That is not the store we need…it’s not even a bookstore.” Ortho pointed out, “Our goal is further in town.”
“But that store looks so interesting…” Kalim pouted.
“How about we get the books we need first, then see if we have time to check out other stores.” Yuya suggested.
“I guess so…” Kalim was still pouting, “But let’s hurry and…oh, look who’s here too!!!”
Kalim pointed to a burger stand where Yuya saw lots of familiar people. Judai and Yuma were quick to spot, and some fellow Night Raven students were with them.
“Oh hey guys!” Judai waved them over, “What brings you to this neck of the woods?”
“Study guide shopping for Kalim.” Yuya explained, “He needs to make up a few things.”
“Oooohhh…does Jamil know?” Ace asked, “Cause he took off for school the moment we were done with our game.”
“I texted him.” Kalim said.
“Must’ve missed it then…” Floyd said, “Sea Snake isn’t going to be happy…”
“I’m sure I did, I…” Kalim checked his phone, “Oh…forgot to hit send.”
Everyone facepalmed.
“Okay…NOW I hit send so he should know and that I have Yuya and Ortho with me.” Kalim smiled, “And now that we’ve run into you guys we should be okay!”
“Suuuuuure….” Yuu gave the twins a glance, “Totally safe.”
“So are we gonna get grub now?” Grim complained.
“So is that why you are here?” Ortho asked, “I’m sure the basketball game has concluded.”
“They wanted food and invited us along.” Jack explained, “You want to join us as well?”
“Sure!” Kalim answered for himself, Ortho and Yuya, “Let me pull up a chair and…” Kalim turned around too quickly and ran into someone.
“Oh! I am so sorry…you’re not hurt are you?”
“Nah it was my bad…” Kalim waved the issue off, “I should be sorry.”
Yuya gave the person Kalim ran into a long look over. He wasn’t human, the fox ears and tail made it clear he was a beastman. His clothes were a mix of formal attire and patch jobs. A royal blue coat with a cape hanging from the left shoulder gave the indication that he had a lot of money, but all the patches on just one leg of his pants hinted that he was also down on hard times. Even the gloved hand used to balance Kalim had the tip of the pinky ripped off. The fox beastman looked the group over and tipped his hat, which was small enough to fit between his fox ears, and gave them a fanged smile, “Now if I believe what I am seeing…those stylish uniforms worn with grace and aplomb. The utter class exuding from every last one of you…”
An odd statement considering the shabby way that Judai and Floyd wore their uniforms.
“Would you happen to be students of that prestigious arcane academy, Night Raven College?” The fox beastman asked.
“Yeah…why?” Kalim asked in a rare show of caution.
“And you are again?” Ace asked.
“Oh, where ARE my manners!” The beast man summoned a walking cane with a flick of a wrist and gave it a twirl, “Allow me to introduce myself…I am Fellow Honest! And this!” He stepped to the side to reveal a smaller boy hiding behind him, “Is Gidel!”
Gidel was also a beastman, a cat rather than a fox, and his appearance seemed more drab than his companion. A cropped yellow jacket with far too long sleeves that hid his hands and far too large purple pants covered with patches and rolled up so that he didn’t trip over the legs. A small blue top hat sat between his cat ears and he carried a large purple toy hammer.
“I’m afraid Gidel isn’t much of a talker, but he is delighted to meet you.” Fellow explained.
Gidel just waved.
“Nice to meet you, Fellow and Gidel!” Kalim beamed.
“Hold on!” Jack interrupted, “Mr. Honest is clearly way older than us! You can’t just go around calling him by his first name!”
“Oh by all means, please do!” Fellow grinned, “Let’s not worry about formalities. You can call us whatever you’re most comfortable with. I’ve gotten so many nicknames that I can fill a book with them! Honest Fellow…Figaro… Ernesto …” He seemed to spit that one out, “So anything is fine.”
“I’mma call you Foxfish and Catshark.” Floyd said.
“See what I mean?” Fellow dramatically pointed to Floyd, “We’re friends already!”
Gidel nodded in agreement.
“I shouldn’t be surprised that Night Raven College students would also have impeccable taste in nomenclature. Just look at them, Gidel! Do you see those bright, clever expressions? They’re practically radiating intelligence. These are all brilliant future scholars, there can be no doubt! What a stroke of fortune for us to meet them now, before they all hit the big time!”
Yuya had an odd feeling, like Fellow was trying to butter them up for some reason. And something was rubbing him the wrong way. The voices in his head were in agreement.
I don’t like this guy. Yuri spat.
Is his smile creepy or is it just me? Yugo asked the others.
Keep your guard up, Yuya…there is something…off. Yuto cautioned.
Yuya knew to stay on guard, unfortunately the others were falling for the praise.
“Goodness, I can’t say I’ve ever been showered with such praise by someone I’ve only just met. You’re very kind.” Jade said.
“This Fellow guy’s alright!” Grim declared, “Did you hear him? He called me clever, brilliant, and cool!”
“He sure did…” Yuu gave Grim a scratch behind the ears.
“What can I do to commemorate our acquaintance?” Fellow tapped his chin in thought, “Oh! That’s it! I’ve got just the thing! I’d like to offer you all a gift!”
“A gift?” Grim bounced on his paws, “What’cha got for me?”
“THIS!” Fellow reached into his sleeve, pulling out a playing card. With a couple of flourishes, he flipped the card around making it disappear and in its place was a fan of golden tickets.
“Tickets?” Ortho gave them a scan, “What event are they for?”
“Not an event my friend…” Fellow grinned, “They are tickets to the one and only Playful Land!”
“Did you just say Playful Land?” Jack was shocked.
“What’s that?” Yuma asked the group.
“You haven’t heard of Playful Land?!” Ace was shocked, “It’s a super-popular amusement park!”
“Weren’t you and Deuce talking about this yesterday? Judai asked.
“We were! Just how amazing it would be if we could see it in person.” Ace said.
“I’ve heard of it too.” Kalim added, “Supposedly they put on this incredible show inside. They say it’s like nothing you can see anywhere else. I heard about it in one of our Light Music Clubs meetings. I’ve been wanting to go!”
Yuya recalled that club meeting, it was mostly Cater trying to find any picture he could of this amusement park on social media.
“Azul has mentioned that place is getting the most attention out of any amusement park these days.” Floyd said.
“Indeed…” Jade nodded, “He mentioned it being an up-and-coming entertainment institution. Its rave reviews had him curious.”
“So where is this park?” Yuya asked.
“That’s the odd thing…” Ortho interjected, “No one knows where it is.”
“Huh?” Grim was confused, “How can it be so popular if no one knows where it is!?”
“Not to mention how does it get any business?” Yuu had a good point.
“It’s not a hoax or a well-written internet creepy pasta is it?” Judai asked in slight concern.
“Why, it’s nothing of the sort! Though I have no idea what a ‘creepy pasta’ is…” Fellow said, “But Playful Land is quite real and, in fact…” He gave his walking cane another twirl and struck a dramatic pose, “Your good friend Fellow Honest here has the privilege of being the park’s manager!”
“”””WHAT?!?!””””
Sus… Yuri coughed into Yuya’s ear.
“You’re the manager of Playful Land?!” Ace explained, “Seriously?! Dude, you’re incredible!”
“I’m quite surprised with how young you look.” Jade added.
“Please…” Fellow chuckled, “I may be young but I’m an old man compared to you bright students. I’ve lived well over 20 years in idle indolence…Goodness, that’s embarrassing to say out loud. And to be clear, I'm simply an employee. It’s nothing all that grand. Even if I have been charged with running the whole place. When I saw all of you, it hit me like a bolt from the blue…You kids could be Playful Land stars!”
Everyone got excited by this prospect, except for Judai who looked a little dazed, and Yuya who realized why Fellow’s behavior was so familiar.
He was acting like the sleazy managers and talent scouts his parents warned him about. The ones who try to con people to signing up for their ‘agencies’ just to run off with the money in the end. Yet…there was some sort of fuzzy feeling in the back of his brain trying to tell him that he could totally trust Fellow.
“I’m sure something brought us together today…” Fellow continued, “I’d very much like for you to accept these tickets.” He proceeded to pass out a ticket to everyone present, “What is Playful Land for, if not the enjoyment of promising future scholars like yourselves?”
Grim cackled, “I get to play at an amusement park AND be a star!? Sign me up!”
“Sounds like a ton of fun, too.” Yuu added.
Fellow’s grin got wider, “And just between us…These are Dream Tickets and I only hand them out to very special guests. Free entry is a given, of course, but this also gets you free access to all the attractions, and food and drinks are provided free of charge! You can enjoy everything that Playful Land has to offer!”
“Free food?!” Judai exclaimed.
“And you’re just giving us for free?” Ace seemed to finally get suspicious, “One sec…” He grabbed everyone into a huddle.
“Okay, is it just me or is this sounding kinda sketchy?” Ace whispered.
“No kidding,” Jack agreed, “There’s gotta be a catch.”
“Azul will no doubt believe there’s a catch as well.” Jade added, “There has to be a payment of some sort.”
“Why are you complaining…” Floyd whined, “Free stuff is cool.”
“Dear me!” Fellow suddenly intruded on their huddle, “You look worried. Do you perhaps suspect something nefarious at foot?” He let out a chuckle, “No wonder you go to the prestigious Night Raven College. I suppose there’s no hiding my ulterior motive. You see, I was hoping to get some extra publicity for our park if you future scholars turned out to enjoy yourselves there. Right, Gidel?”
Gidel nodded.
“So…you’re asking for something like an influencer endorsement?” Yuya asked, “You cover the cost of our visit and you recoup the cost from the publicity and future customers?”
Fellow wiped a tear from his eye, “Such an intelligent scholar! You must be in this business as well, a true entertainer at heart!”
Yuya was feeling very uncomfortable with how accurate Fellow was. He loved to entertain, and the prospect of performing on stage sounded amazing! Yet…Yuya felt…odd about this prospect, while everyone else was fully onboard with the idea.
“Well, it would be rude to turn down such a gracious invitation.” Kalim said, “We should all go next weekend!”
Fellow’s happy demeanor dropped a bit, “Next weekend? Oh, I’m afraid that won’t work. You see…these tickets are only valid for entry for the park tomorrow.”
“Huh? Why’s that?” Floyd lazily asked.
“Well, tomorrow is the special day we’ve put aside for all our esteemed Sage’s Island guests.” Fellow explained.
“But tomorrow is a weekday, we have school.” Ortho pointed out.
“Schooooooool?” Fellow leaned on his cane with Gidel copying the pose with his hammer, “Why go to school when an amusement park would be way more fun! Missing one little day won’t hurt.”
“You’ve never met our dorm head…” Ace shivered, “He would never approve this!”
“Regular attendance is part of my routine…” Jack said, “Deviating from it would be rough…”
“But if you pass up this opportunity, you’ll never be able to go to Playful Land again!” Fellow did his best attempt at puppy dog eyes, “These are tickets that people all over the world would fall over themselves to get. And you’re going to throw them away?”
Everyone hesitated. Gidel joined in on the pleading look.
“C’mon. What’s the harm in missing out on one day of school? You’ve got a whole amusement park to employ to your heart’s content! You’ll find tons of friends and even more fun. It’ll be like a vacation!”
Still more hesitation.
“Come on….What’s there to think about? Don’t worry! As long as you stick with me…there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Yuya felt like there was something to be afraid of, especially when he suddenly felt Judai’s hand on his shoulder. Looking up at the brunette, Yuya saw that Judai’s eyes had briefly flashed green and orange.
That was not a good sign.
“Well, that sounds like a highly enticing offer.” Jade said rather giddily.
That was also not a good sign.
“This sounds rad. I wanna go!” Floyd declared,
“I wanna ticket too!” Yuma pleaded, “This sounds so much fun!”
Yuma too?!
One by one, everyone happily took a ticket from Fellow, even Judai and Yuya on the more reluctant side.
“Remember, the tickets are valid for tomorrow ONLY!” Fellow emphasised to them, “You’ll need to meet me at the docks at sunrise tomorrow so that I can lead you to the gate. If you want to invite any other friends from your school, just bring them with you and I’ll provide any additional tickets. The park will come alive with all of you there.”
“That sounds like a good idea!” Kalim beamed, “Thanks, Fellow!”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Fellow and Gidel tipped their hats, “Don’t break your friend Fellow Honest’s heart by breaking your promise!” The beastman duo then made their leave.
Everyone else began discussing who they could invite and speculating what Playful Land would be like. But Judai pulled Yuya and Yuma to the side and spoke low.
“Okay…that was weird.”
“Why?” Yuma blinked in confusion, “We got free tickets for a theme park.”
“So you didn’t notice?” Judai asked him.
“Notice what?”
“That talking to Fellow made you unusually giddy? Yubel was mentally smacking me several times to bring me back to my senses.” Judai explained.
“I didn’t feel giddy, just…” Yuya thought for a bit, “But there was an urge to trust him…yet I knew something was…wrong.”
“But…” Yuma looked torn up, “Everyone is excited to go.”
“We might just be overreacting but…” Judai sighed, “Let’s keep an eye on everyone…just in case. If they do want to go tomorrow, we should keep an eye on them.”
Yuya felt like this was the best course of action. Hopefully it would just be a fun day tomorrow.