Assumptions: Dennis lives/works in Xyz Dimension after the war. Shun somehow doesn’t hear about it. Can you tell I think that’s an amazing plot point and should be set in stone if it wasn’t already
Remember how I said literally every single time Dennis is in a ship he makes it take a hundred million times longer than it’s supposed to?
Dennis Mackfield is handing out the last of his Entermage-supporting Trap Cards when he feels hot threatening breaths on the back of his neck--and whoops, sure enough, Kurosaki Shun is glaring down at him by the time he turns around.
“Academia scum. What are you doing here?”
"Yare, yare," he tsks, ignoring his faster heartbeat and his pop-goes-the-weasel boner, "is this or is this not public space? Nice to see you again too, Kurosaki-san."
The taller boy's response is to just grab his collar and pull him closer threateningly.
"Ugh--okay, okay, I got it, 'don't act like we're friends'. Sawatari gives me that same look when I stop by Standard."
"Why," Kurosaki repeats slowly, "are you in my hometown?"
Dennis snorts condescendingly, because okay yeah, he does have some of that Fusion pride, and he's also kind of sick of being talked to like he's a modern Typhoid Mary by this attractive asshole in particular.
"I've been here all winter, moron. Actually, you've caught me leaving--and I was just giving the kids who came for my shows some parting gifts before I left."
He's let go almost instantly as soon as he says the word gifts. When he looks back up at his aggressor's face, it is looking considerably less aggressive.
"You've been in Heartland all winter?" (Tacked on in his tone Dennis hears, and there haven't been any attacks?)
"Aa, squatting here and there. I'm kidding!" he says hastily as those gold eyes turn dangerous again. "Some families have let me stay with them in exchange for some housework, and some extra performances for their kids."
Shun sits down on the sidewalk, which is a relief for Dennis' poor neck muscles. He seems to be wrestling with something, and far be it for Dennis to disturb someone who's already kicked his ass.
And plus, he's cute when he thinks. Well--he's cute when he's angry, too. And when he does that overdramatic draw when he's dueling--
"Where are you going?"
He snaps back to attention at Kurosaki's question, blushing, then kind of... sags. Because he has no earthly idea where he's going to wait out the season, and until he was just reminded of that, he'd blessedly forgotten.
"Eh, I dunno... somewhere warm?" He lies down, putting his arms behind his head and grinning wistfully. "Maybe I'll go bug Gon-chan in Standard, or Yuugo-kun in Synchro."
For a moment he doesn't even get a grunt in response. It's uncomfortably quiet, reminding Dennis that for all his jokes, he really doesn't have a reliable set of friends to count on anymore. Or maybe he never had. There's no guarantee that either of the boys he mentioned alone would even give him a lukewarm welcome.
"You can't go home?"
Dennis chokes on a laugh. At first he thinks the question is a jab at him, a request for him to hit the road already; then he hears the sincerity in it and feels a bit of shame for even thinking that. Of all the Lancers, only Kurosaki understands what it's like when you literally can't go home. His real home, where his family was whole and happy, is in the irretrievable past.
Dennis' "home" is a training ground for young monsters, a place he once thrived when he was too good for a conscience. There is no way he could ever go back there for more than five minutes, unless he wanted to start screaming and never stop.
"Nah. Academia's got most of Fusion Dimension under its thumb even now, and their whole 'imprison and indoctrinate' routine... isn't my style anymore."
To his surprise, Kurosaki actually chuckles, and he makes a joke. "Not their style anymore either."
Dennis laughs, and feels the best kind of traitorous warm fuzzies as he does.
He looks up and Kurosaki is staring straight at him again, with that thoughtful raptor expression he loves hates. It's as if the guy is deciding whether to fly with him or feed on him.
"...Mackfield."
"Uh--yeah?" Holy shit, we've come far. That's a lot better than 'Academia scum'!
"Since you've got nowhere else to go--and the kids wouldn't understand how much you deserve it if you froze to death--you, uh, might as well come stay in one of our guest rooms."
Dennis feels his face turn tomato-red--it takes all he has to keep his voice from cracking. "Why, Kurosaki! You're inviting rotten old me into your home?"
"No," Kurosaki says too quickly, "Ruri's asked me to invite you to stay if you could be found, and since you unfortunately could be found--"
"Ah ah ah, you managed to stay away from me this long. I'm supposed to believe that Ruri wants me in her space but you don't want me in your same space?"
"Yes! Yes you are, you stubborn bastard!"
Dennis gets up and twirls, and dances in a circle, teasing him. "Just come out with it, Kurosaki~! You can say it: 'Dennis, I want to keep you warm. Dennis, the thought of having you around makes me happy. Dennis, come hunker down in my nest!'"
"If you don't shut the hell up I will leave you out here for the crows to pick at!"
Nothing much to say here. I like this one too. Bit of AU around/right before the time that Roger loses his mind and abducts Yuzu, only to get curbstomped by our favorite scarf nerd.
"Tsukikage," Reiji murmured over their comms, "I give you leave to finish these people off."
The Obelisk Force soldiers gaped and guffawed at their prey, seemingly not believing their luck in this four-on-two Battle Royale, but Tsukikage felt no fear or wonder; he just smirked.
"As you say, Reiji-dono."
Twenty seconds later his ace monster had all four men on the ground, writhing, twitching, but down for the count.
He glanced around, checking for any more; finding none, he quickly moved to his superior's side, leaping from debris to pillar until they stood just out of reach of other foes.
"What direction is our next one?" he asked.
There was a manic yell from the hallway that had both their heads jerking in the direction of the main meeting room the Lancers had once used to appeal to the Council. It sounded like the source of all their recent troubles was attempting to make his escape.
Sure enough, Reiji turned his attention to that shout, swiftly and precisely.
"Roger has made his play," he said. "Taking Hiiragi Yuzu was a desperate move, but also an inevitable one, because he needed some bargaining chip to crystallize his power. The uprising of the Commons--"
"--has given us an opportunity to strike," Tsukikage finished for him, as he refastened the duel disk on his own arm. "One that we may not have received before. I noticed as well."
"Let us take that opportunity with haste, then. A game with Roger leaves little room for error."
They started running, leaping from their perches to dart toward the commotion. Tsukikage had to slow his pace to ensure that Reiji could stay with him, but he was pleased to see that he didn't have to hold back too much.
Doors blew open before them; a few more Obelisk soldiers staggered in from open windows and secret passages they'd found with explosives, but they were swiftly dealt with and their communications cut and rerouted. The distraction was aggravating, but all they could do was handle the threat and move on.
Just as they arrived in the grand central room, Tsukikage's attention was captured by too many events at once:
The Council that ran Synchro Dimension was cowering in a corner, their voices overruling each other's as they shouted protests and recriminations at their foe. Across from them, with light sprinkling down on him as if to illuminate him as an ascended being, Jean-Michel Roger shrieked back at them, his face and hair flushed and wild. It sounded like he was repeating his earlier claims of superiority and plans for domination. He had Hiiragi Yuzu in a vice grip under one arm, and in the other held a button that he seemed to have been frustratingly pressing without any result before Tsukikage and Reiji arrived behind him, out of sight.
There was so much noise that at first the ninja felt overwhelmed, like he had missed something--but the moment Reiji sucked in a breath next to him, he turned his attention to whatever was disturbing his dueling partner. It didn't take long to spot it.
Akaba Reira was standing between Roger and the Council, his duel disk bright and held high on his tiny arm, his eyes wide at all the shouting and posturing, but standing there firmly nonetheless--brave, unwavering, fiercely protective.
"I won't let you take her!" he was saying. "You won't get past me. Duel me!"
Roger laughed--howled, cackled, mocked. "Duel you? Little boy, you hold no use for me, and defeating you is not worth my valuable time. I have a dimension to push under my heel--stand aside!"
"I won't!"
Reiji glanced between the tyrant-to-be and his brother, looking pale and uncertain for the first time. "Reira..."
Tsukikage gripped his wrist, keeping him from leaping forward for now. "He is all right--he has not been harmed. We must not act in haste--our foe is mad, and one wrong move from us could see Hiiragi Yuzu seriously hurt."
The CEO stared still at his brother's impassioned challenging back-and-forth with Roger, as though seeing how strong and yet fragile Reira truly was for the first time.
"Hold, Reiji-dono. I will never compromise Reira's safety, not for anyone--not even if you asked it of me."
As Reiji gave him a grateful look, Roger heard voices and decided to make his escape. He threw more taunts the way of his longtime rivals for power, with a few throwaway insults against the Lancers and the Chairman in particular, and suddenly detonated a smoke bomb at his feet.
Yuzu's shriek cut through the smog--Tsukikage, sensing where he needed to look as he attempted pursuit, found Roger hoisting her up and away as he cleared the nearest detonated exit and headed for his bolthole.
"Nii-san!"
Meanwhile, Reira had been found by Reiji.
The ninja followed his senses to them, grateful that always keeping his mouth covered was finally coming in handy. As the smoke cleared, he found his partner and reached for his hand. Reiji reached back and let Tsukikage take it.
"Are you well?" they both asked Reira in tandem.
The boy shook his head sadly. "I'm fine--but nii-san--Tsukikage--he took Yuzu, we can't let him take Yuzu!"
The ninja was inclined to agree--and when Reiji looked to him as he always did, seeking silent council, he made that apparent.
"Very well," Reiji said, determined anew. "You're both correct--Roger cannot be allowed to leave this dimension with Hiiragi Yuzu. No matter the cost, we must retrieve her, if only to grow the Lancers' ranks."
And strengthen Sakaki Yuuya's resolve for the war, Tsukikage added to himself. There was only so long Yuzu could be dangled in front of him like a tantalizing carrot before he lost the will to continue pursuing her, much less to complete their greater mission.
He squeezed Reiji's hand, but the other boy had abruptly paused, staring between the madman's fleeing path and his small, vulnerable brother.
It was not often that Tsukikage saw his partner freeze or display any kind of indecision--but this was a clear case of Reiji's mind following one path and his (admittedly-stiff) heart following another.
Finally he spoke, or at least began. "I will remain here. Tsukikage--I trust you to pursue Rog--"
"No," Tsukikage said bluntly.
Both Akaba brothers stared blankly at him. Reira's mouth was open and gaping. Which, of course it is, I've never before said no to his brother. I've never denied or averted any order he's given me for the cause. I didn't even think I could.
Yet on this he wouldn't be budged.
"I'm sorry..." Reiji returned slowly, letting their hand-hold break, "have I missed something? I don't understand why--"
"Reiji-dono, did I not recently say that I would not endanger or otherwise compromise your brother even if you asked me to do so?"
Lights started to come on in their leader's head. "You did. However, I don't see how--"
"You are thinking with your heart," Tsukikage admonished. It was an understandable problem, but it was also one he had been recruited to corral and correct--no matter how much his own feelings got in the way.
"You trust me to track down and defeat Roger and secure Hiiragi-san's safety--and your trust warms me, I assure you. In the meantime you think to stay with Reira and secure his safety--which I am sure warms him. But it is the wrong move."
Reiji tensed. His teeth gritted. "...How so?"
"Your emotions are causing you to gamble, which normally you would not.... Reiji-dono, your best decisions come when you are focused and stoic. Though I am flattered that you have enough faith to send me against Jean-Michel Roger, I know this decision is not among your best. Roger would defeat me at my current level, and escape with Yuzu.”
It hurt to say, to even think--but Tsukikage was a master strategist, just like Reiji. They both surveyed, manipulated and outwitted their opponents. He saw no possible future where he could defeat such a brutal, unpredictable Academian agent, much less halt his desperate advance.
But he did see himself continuing to keep Reira safe, and guiding him to the other Lancers to await Reiji’s victory. Better that than failing his superior at the most critical moment.
“You must defeat Roger and rescue Yuzu, because you are the only one who can. I will stay and put my life before Reira’s in your stead.”
“But--” Reiji looked from Reira to the Council, to the renewed sounds of yelling and screaming all around them with no small amount of concern.
I must make him understand. Bring him to his senses.
Desperation made Tsukikage take Reiji’s closest hand and kneel, bowing over it. He felt Reiji startle and try to pull him up, but he didn’t budge, because even if he had to beg it was imperative that he be heeded.
“Your dueling is unparalleled, and it is needed now more than ever. I need you to trust that I will not let any harm come to Reira, and trust that he will not let any harm come to himself.”
“He’s right,” Reira whispered; his quiet voice grabbed their attention nonetheless. “I’ll be fine. I tried to protect Serena, but I couldn’t... nii-san, please protect Yuzu.”
Reiji relaxed for a brief moment at the words, looking back down at Tsukikage with an intense look, as though he wanted to memorize his face while he could. That reminded the ninja that that sentiment could very well be true--he might not see Reiji for a long time once they parted ways here.
If ever.
The moment ended when Reiji squeezed his hand and let it go again without taking his eyes off him.
“There is no one I trust above you, Fuuma Tsukikage,” he said. “When you give your word, you keep it. Very well. Remain here and pr--work with my brother to locate and reconnect the other Lancers. I will halt Jean-Michel Roger’s advance.”
Sensing his resolve and the return of his logic, Tsukikage nodded, unbending, and stood up straight. He did not offer any further form of goodbye, except to keep his gaze on Reiji as the other boy shuffled his deck and headed toward the sounds of strife growing softer all the while. It was strange not to be following him, dueling beside him, smiling at him and being smiled at in return. Reiji was not even in any danger yet and he missed him already.
And yet.
Our time together is not done, he thought. This is the right choice. Roger will be defeated, we will finally gain Synchro’s people as allies in the war, and then Reiji and I will take the fight to Fusion.
Not a sequel to the other one. The last "angsty Dennis" prompt fill. And the last one with Ruri. Say bye to my fave bracelet girl with me.
Ruri called out for her ace monster to finish the Academian straggler off, and it did without any hesitation.
"Aaagh!" the other girl shrieked, both stunned and horrified as her life points hit zero. She was thrown back yelling some version of oh no how could this be, defeated by Xyz scum, impossible--the usual drivel.
“Get out of my city and don’t come back,” Ruri told her, then turned her back and moved on as the Solid Vision dissipated.
She didn’t wait to see her opponent press her wrist transporter and flee, but she knew it would happen--it came to pass every time she beat one of these mad leftovers from the war, because she made sure to beat them so badly that shame sent them running back to their broken home.
It was the least bit of revenge she could deal out.
A brief but blinding flash of light appeared and disappeared behind her, and she walked on, her lips not even twitching upward. This wasn't the first 'rebel' she'd had to kick out of Heartland since her return, or even in the last day. It was quickly getting old--yet she persisted. Had to, or these fanatics might be able to band together and terrorize Heartland's people and the real rebels once more, without remorse.
Storm clouds brewed above Ruri's head, having come from out of nowhere to blanket her city. Exhaling quietly, she resolved to head back toward her sector for a bit--even Academia's soldiers didn't like to operate in the rain, so she wouldn't find any lingering outside.
Better to rest now, and take care of more later. Maybe Yuuto will feel up to joining me by then.
The rain was a choking downpour the closer Ruri got to her side of town--but there was nowhere open or closed to stop in, and thanks to the rain she had bad reception on her communicator, so she couldn't check in with Sayaka or anyone else. So press on she did, staring uneasily up every so often and keeping her eyes peeled for friend or foe.
But after months of thinking in very black-and-white terms, of considering and then making the world her battleground, Ruri forgot that not everyone she would meet would fall neatly into wartime categories.
Several things happened in quick succession:
A bolt of lightning hit the rusted fire escape of an abandoned building, dislodging the bottom set of stairs and sending them tumbling toward her head--
Ruri froze, wide-eyed, unsure in the span of milliseconds how to deal with the hand she'd abruptly been dealt--
A voice from the darkness screamed "Look out, Ruri!!"--
A dark shadow leapt at her, closing the distance in what seemed like less than no time, and knocked her to the ground, not letting her up when she struggled weakly--
--and normal time resumed.
Ruri's head throbbed--it had bumped the street a little hard in the save. But her brain throbbed too, trying desperately to figure out who had saved her.
She put it together all too quickly when she saw Trapeze Magician hoisting the broken, searing stairwell above and away from her head.
Much, much too quickly.
"You!"
When she scrambled to her feet, sure enough, Dennis Mackfield was scrambling right with her, checking her for injuries and generally looking worried, wide-eyed and innocent.
Everything he wasn't.
"I can't believe--" she spat, feeling saliva or venom or something pile up in her veins, in her words. "How dare you show your face to me--"
"Ruri, are you all right?! A steel beam almost dropped on your head!"
He moved toward her with his hands out, reaching to check the bump that was probably enhancing Ruri's appearance so much, and she yelled "Do not touch me!"
That backed him off. Thunder boomed nearby, rain flattened them down to their basest selves, and Ruri took the chance to calm down by ripping up some more of her old jacket to wrap crudely around her forehead.
She had suspected sometimes that she was being followed as she purged her city of child soldiers, but never had any evidence to support her paranoia. If anyone was following her though she'd suspected her bumbling brother, not Dennis.
Never him.
Eventually she felt like she could talk without screaming, croaking or choking. "Why are you here? Are you making another surveillance pass for your home team?"
"What?" Dennis blanched, barely discernible in the dark. "Ruri, no, I'm not here for them, I've been looking for you!"
Yeah, sure.
Ruri held up her right arm, readying the duel disk there. "Oh, I'll bet. Which is it this time--are you going to bring me back to Akaba Leo yourself, or are you finally here to duel me head-on?"
He looked at her unsteadily, and inwardly she thrilled at having thrown him off this much. She had earned the advantage this time.
"Ruri, why are you being so hostile? I mean--I'd blame it on the concussion you probably have but I don't think you're in the mood for jokes..."
She took deep breaths, but still jabbed defensively at him with her words, not letting up for a second. "You're really standing here in my homeworld, pretending like you don't know why I want you gone? And you have the nerve to make jokes?"
"What else am I supposed to do?" Dennis hissed, flailing his arms--despite herself Ruri flinched and backed away some more, cooled down. She'd never seen him... mad before.
He was kind of scary.
"There's nothing else I can do. I've tried to do relief runs--but too many refugees saw me hurt them and they don't--won't--believe I want to help them now. I've tried rounding up some of the strays from Fusion who don't know the war's over, but you've been beating me to a ton of those--"
"Because this place isn't the set for your redemption film," Ruri spat. "And the war isn't over here. So long as these scum keep ambushing innocents and trying to retake my home, we'll never have peace!"
Dennis yanked at his hair. "And that's supposed to be all on me?"
"YES!"
Her scream was punctuated by another boom-crackle of thunder, and Dennis' eyes were as blue and wide as she'd ever seen them.
Ruri trembled in the chill of the rain, which masked some of the sting in her eyes and made her throat feel even more hot and raw. But her duel disk arm scarcely wavered, and the words didn't stop pouring out. The hurt didn't either.
"Yes, Dennis. It is all on you, because it's your fault Academia got set up here in the first place. It's on your word that the Obelisk Force knew who and where to hit, and it's thanks to your lies and subterfuge that your Professor even knew where to find me."
She finally lowered her aching arm; her bluff was done. She could hurt nameless, faceless Academia mooks, but she couldn't hurt the person who'd hurt her first.
His voice came slowly, hesitantly through the storm. "I know what I did. Every day I'm reminded--I remind myself--that I was a monster, a deceiver. No matter what steps I take to make things better, the looks don't change. The fear doesn't change. Ruri... kids are scared of me."
Ruri's glance at him showed her that his eyes were overbright too, but her sympathy just wasn't back in her yet. Not for him. "You keep wanting me to feel sorry for you. How can I when all I see when I look at you now is my home burning? My family suffering? My friends fighting for their lives?"
"But you can, because... once when you looked at me, you saw none of that. You saw more than that. Your eyes used to hold something much better than sympathy for me."
...Yes. They did, didn't they?
Dennis looked so... earnest. Earnest and lost at the same time, like he was trying to find a path he knew was already blocked off.
Except he was right. She had been in love with him, when he was in her untainted home not so long before now. She attended all his shows, and they'd grown closer with friendly duels and long chats once she started feeling brave enough to linger to speak with him. Ruri had memorized the color of his eyelashes, the amount of ties he rotated, and how many characters he played onstage, among other things.
The number of kisses they'd had: 3.
The number of dates they'd been on before everything imploded: 5.
And the number of times they'd exchanged those three words: once.
Ruri had been stupid in love with him. But she didn't have the slightest clue if his old confession had been an inconvenient truth or yet another smooth lie. And living with heartache and uncertainty wasn't her thing.
"Once they did," she finally confirmed, moving so she lingered under the threatening metal stair and the equally-threatening, horrid, two-faced monster of his. His gaze followed her there, and grew sadder the longer it lingered on her closed body language. "You're right, Dennis--I cared a lot about you. I loved you, and everything about me used to reflect that."
"...but you keep using past tense," he said forlornly.
Ruri took a deep, steadying breath.
"Because it is past tense, Dennis," she said. "You were so important to me, but only because you made yourself so. It wasn't real for you; I know, because when the time came, it was easy for you to sell me out to someone who looked like my best friend and run like a coward, making things awkward between me and Yuuto forever after. I wasn't enough for you to reconsider hurting innocent people. You didn't even change once I was gone--you went and pretended to join the people who actually wanted to help me. You spied on and lied to my brother, and gloated about tricking me!"
"But that wasn't real," Dennis protested, but weakly. "I mean, yes I lied, but not just about my former allegiance--I lied to everyone about my feelings for you. I knew no one would believe I'd fallen for you--I barely believed it--but it was true. It IS true. You have to believe me."
"No, I don't. And even if I did, I couldn't. Dennis, how can I know which boy is the mask and which is the face? I can't trust you--not your word, when I know you'll lie to me, and not your actions, when I know you'll wear whatever face suits you."
He didn't respond at first, perhaps because his voice sounded as raw as hers. Then he asked, "You can't trust me and you can't believe me. Can you at least...?"
His voice broke before the last inevitable words.
Ruri looked away. It'll be easy, she'd thought much earlier, when she was just angry at him and the heartbreak hadn't pushed through yet. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. Just rip it off.
This was not easy. And tomorrow, after it was over for real, it still wouldn't be.
"I can't love you anymore," she whispered. "Or--I do still love you, but I won't come back to you. And you can't come back to me. There's too much between us, too many lies."
"Ruri..."
"You should go. Go back home and don't come back here. You... keep your people out of here, and I'll keep my people safe."
Dennis breathed, "But I love you."
Tears stung her eyes again, and she shook her head. Cut the cord. "We're too different, and I can't live my life wondering who you really answer to. Goodbye, Dennis..."
The rain hadn't let up one bit during their final conversation, but for the first time that night Ruri didn't curse it. The noise and lightning made it easy to pretend she didn't hear Dennis calling after her as she walked away; the driving droplets of rain made it easy to pretend she wasn't crying; and the thunder made a perfectly gloomy soundtrack for her to lose herself in as she walked home alone.
Why answer one day-prompt with bambooshipping when you could answer tw--
Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty--
SLAM.
“Yuuya! When are we gonna have our du--”
As Shuin’in Sora came hurtling into the living room shouting at max volume, he got an unpleasant surprise: Kachidoki Isao was glaring at him from the couch, where he’d been bent over Yuuya as though he were about to kiss him, holy shit--
“--ack! What’re you doing? This living room is public space, you know!”
“You are disturbing Yuuya’s sleep,” Kachidoki said smoothly, slowly and without any warmth. “Go play somewhere else. I’ll send him to see you when he wakes up. Or not.”
Sora pouted, but he was a little unsettled by the older duelist, even after having known him for a few years. He left with much less fanfare.
Alone again at last with his longtime boyfriend, Kachidoki let out a groan and sported a pout of his own.
Damn it! Forgot which eyelash cluster I stopped at. Now I’ve got to start all over.
Ever since Yuuya started his mid-math homework-nap a few hours ago, Kachidoki had been taking advantage of the peace and quiet to count his boyfriend’s eyelashes. Once when they were out for their customary rainbow sherbet ice cream, Yuuya had claimed that he had a whopping 232 upper eyelashes on each eye. When Kachidoki snorted and asked him to prove it, he’d just laughed and insisted that he couldn’t count them all efficiently; better if his partner did it while he was asleep.
Perhaps he expected the suggestion to startle him, but Kachidoki was undaunted. Watching his boyfriend sleep was no challenge; closely studying him was no hardship. As he prepared to start over, he carefully mussed Yuuya’s red and green hairs together before pushing them off his forehead and out of his way for the recount.
The next thing he knew, Yuuya was prodding him awake.
Wait.
Awake?! Shit.
“Isao, wake up. I’ve gotta know!”
“Knowha’?” he grumbled, trying to remember what he’d fallen asleep in the middle of. It seemed so important at the time.
“Isao, how many eyelashes do I have? You were supposed to be counting!”
Oh! He’d drifted off counting those things. The last number that he remembered saying was 121, but who knew? “Lost track. Doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter?” Yuuya whined. “Come on, I even went back to sleep after Sora busted in here, and that was hard to pull off!”
Kachidoki just responded by pulling the overexcited entertainer into a close cuddle, and resting their heads together. His voice was still groggy and rough, but firm as ever. “Don’t care, Yuuya. I’m tired. Count later; sleep now.”
“But--! Oh okay fine, I’ll just count yours for you later instead. Night.”
“Zzzz.”
“I’m home!”
Sakaki Yoko’s shout got no answer--not even from Yuzu or Sora, the two munchkins most likely to be galloping around like they lived here too. She was puzzled at first, until she made it to the living room to see why.
Yuuya was fast asleep on the couch, curled around his cute-but-still-heavily-mom-screened boyfriend Kachidoki Isao. It looked like they had been out for hours--yep, sure enough, there was Yuuya’s unfinished math homework on the floor.
Yoko snapped a quick pic of them, chuckling, then moved to make dinner and prepare for the fallout tomorrow after school. Kachidoki might look adorable with her son under soft light, but even he couldn’t convince Yuuya to turn his stuff in on time.
I don’t have PTSD or panic attacks. Any feedback on how this is portrayed/handled below will be well appreciated.
Akaba Reira had an unfortunate habit of occasionally skipping school. Fortunately, when that happened, Yamashiro Tatsuya knew exactly what needed to be done.
He’d excuse himself to the restroom with “indigestion” first, so no one thought to wonder at his long absence for at least a few periods. Once free, he grabbed the stash of things he kept in his locker for truant days: chip bags, blankets, some cards and a portable CD player. These things would then bounce around his backpack as he snuck out the school’s side door, jogged across the park and found the coolest, quietest part of the city.
When Tatsuya made it to the undusted part of the library, Reira was there with his hands over his ears, breathing fast. Mournfully he thought, I’m right every time.
“Reira?”
The other boy cringed, still trembling and hyperventilating.
Exhaling slowly, Tatsuya sat down next to him. Getting out of school and finding his best friend was the easy part. Sometimes, knowing what to do next was what eluded him. Things that soothed Reira on a Monday might not work at all on a Thursday. The only guaranteed form of comfort was Reira’s brother Reiji, which was why he was number three on Tatsuya’s speed dial.
He always alerted the young president when his brother was having a traumatic episode, and today was no different; he’d done so on the way here. But until Reiji could cross town for them, Tatsuya was on his own.
One step at a time, he thought now, drawing on Ayu’s strength and intuitiveness.
“Reira–it’s Tatsuya. I don’t know what you’re remembering right now, but you aren’t there. You’re here–in Maiami–with me.”
The hands over the other boy’s ears didn’t clamp down quiet as tightly–but he was still breathing fast, fast, too fast. A bad sign. Tatsuya had to keep trying to ground him.
“You’re home. You’re in the city’s public library and you missed lunch. I did too, actually… are you as hungry as I am right now? If you wanted I could get you some udon or…”
Reira moaned something unfamiliar. A name. It sounded like Rei.
“Reiji’s coming soon,” Tatsuya said soothingly. “Your brother, you remember him? He always makes sure you don’t get hurt. Breathe–breathe in and out–breathe slower for me–”
It took time, but gradually Reira’s breathing slowed down and he stopped looking ready to faint. Tatsuya had to roll wildly between topics, like going from food to school, and school to movies, and movies to silly duels he’d had at You Show. The positive change in status for his friend came as a huge relief–but he still knew that nothing was near all right.
Now he ventured out of his head, to attempt conversation. “Reira…? Do–do you feel up to telling me what’s wrong?”
The other boy shuddered–a full-body one. But he spoke–he spoke!–too: “No.”
“Okay…. Do you want me to go?”
Reira flinched again, then reached out as Tatsuya got up to give him space, aborting his own grab before their hands could connect. But the no! he repeated whisper-soft in the quiet space got his point across–he didn’t want to be alone.
So instead they sat together, neither touching the other, but close enough together that Tatsuya couldn’t sense Reira’s head retreating into that dark war space it had, where whatever he had lived and seen did a trauma conga in his head that Tatsuya and his tangible presence were sometimes powerless to stop.
At some point, Tatsuya’s phone wiggled with a text from Reiji: Our ETA is ten minutes. I trust that Reira will be fine with you until then. He texted back, You can count on me, then relayed the update to his friend.
“Okay,” Reira said softly, nodding, saying nothing else for a bit. Then: “Thank you, Tatsuya.”
“It’s not–there’s no need to thank me, you’re my friend.”
“There is. You always–you always know what helps me. You spend time with me when no one else will. You’re always listening, even when you talk. There’s no pressure when I’m with you, and…”
He broke off, but this time not from any trouble breathing or finding his place in time. Instead he shrugged as if to say that’s it, that’s all I meant to say.
Tatsuya just nodded, and reached out to finally close the distance and hold Reira’s once-outstretched hand.
He figured he could guess what exactly might be plaguing Reira’s thoughts: bad dreams, his fear of abandonment, maybe whatever he had experienced while fighting so far away from home. But he never asked outright, and he never expected Reira to tell him.
Maybe one day he would, or he wouldn’t–regardless, Tatsuya knew he’d spend his life doing what helped if that was what Reira needed.
Reiji arrived incognito exactly ten minutes after his text, but Reira had dozed off by the time he found them in the back.
“Reiji-san,” Tatsuya said as he leaped up, startled anyway.
“Yes, it is I.” He looked amused; his eyes gleamed as he glanced between the boys. “Reira looks well…”
“He had a bad day,” Tatsuya admitted. “Panic attack, probably, before I got here. But I think as long as he has company–”
“He will. I’ll remain with him for the next few days, away from school until he adjusts to being back.”
“Good… that’s good.”
Reira sighed; his grip on Tatsuya’s hand tightened, but the latter didn’t flinch. It was an awkward climb to his feet with an extra sleeping arm attached, but he managed it somehow.
Reiji took the liberty of unwinding the boys’ hands and picking his younger brother up, holding him like a much smaller child. When he looked back at Tatsuya, he offered him a rare smile.
“Thank you for your support.”
“Of course!” Tatsuya stammered, floored but also bemused. “I mean, anytime, it’s not a problem. Reira’s my very important friend and I really just want to help him in every possible way.”
He blushed a little at how vehemently he’d said that, but it felt no less true, and it didn’t matter if anyone approved of it or not.
Reira smiled in his sleep. Seeing it, Reiji retrieved his younger brother’s school bag too, and nodded to Tatsuya, giving him a few parting words as he turned and left.
“Safe travels. I’ll have Reira contact you tonight.”
As they disappeared through the front doors, Tatsuya got his own things together, and later headed back to school with a huge grin on his face.
Pairing: Yuuto/Serena (Moonrebellionshipping, remember? XD), very background Funshipping (Yuuya/Grace).
This one's a bit more awkward, but in the end I decided not to write a sequel to the previous one for this pair. So think different setting: mostly canon, united dimensions, but separate bodies.
Some first dates were simple, so long as there was no mention of politics, religion, or sex on the first night.
Frankly, Yuuto wished he had those kinds of problems. In order to keep his feelings and his head intact, he had to avoid any mention of:
Academia
Ruri's kidnapping
The battlefield that was Heartland and the Xyz Dimension
The Rebellion
How evil the Professor and his blindly loyal minions were
Oh yeah, and he had to create ongoing conversation. And survive. Until after dessert.
Unless she doesn't want dessert. What if she's offended by me even offering to buy her dessert? Oh, god...
"You'll be fine," Yuuya soothed, helping him tie his tie before checking his dark ensemble over in the hallway mirror. "Serena's a little abrasive when you first meet her, but she's got a good heart under all that, uh, prickly. You know that, she's agreed to go out with you!"
Yuuto tried not to turn green--it would clash with his suit. "But what if she hates me? Or looks down on me? Or treats me like I'm--you know, him--"
"You're not Yuuri. She barely even knew him, and it's probably not him she's thinking about right now."
That was likely. Still...
"...There's so much we can't talk about without hurting each other... or making things awkward."
Yuuya pshawed. "I'm a performer--I just push through awkward, Yuuto. So can you. If I can get into a relationship with Grace without us hurting one another or always bringing up the past, you and Serena will definitely be fine."
After this empty excuse for a pep talk he was pushed out of his own house, and made to march down the street toward his delight or his doom. Yuuto's adrenaline was racing, his blood skating, his mind constantly churning out frantic instructions like don't think of the war don't talk about the war don't think of the war don't talk about the war--
"Hey."
He jumped out of his skin. Somehow he'd made it to the Italian restaurant, and Serena was staring at him and lifting one deep blue eyebrow. His distraction had been so great that he'd almost bumped into the person he was trying to da--
"Earth to Yuuto," Serena said. "Are you using that stupid look to get out of dinner?"
"What? I--n-no, no way!"
"Then what's wrong?"
Yuuto kept stammering. "Nothing's wrong... I just had a lot on my mind, didn't see you..."
She paused a moment to smirk, then gestured to him. "Whatever you say, rebel boy. Come on, we've gotta get a table."
Yuuto didn't realize the rules he'd made for himself were broken by Serena and they were still comfortable together until it was happening.
Over lasagna and linguini, they'd chatted about how life in their new schools was going, about transitioning to being in one dimension, and of course about dueling: entering the Pro League, switching strategies, buying new cards. It didn't take long before Yuuto remembered his manners and complimented his date's floor-length dress after she warmly and positively noted his choice of a matching red tie.
He felt warm and content the longer their small talk meandered on. Then Serena broke into their taboo topics.
"How's your friend coping?"
Once again Yuuto found himself sputtering. "I--m-my--you mean Ruri?!"
"Yeah..." She twirled her fork, not looking at him for a moment. "I've been sort of--avoiding her, and Rin and Yuzu. Not because I don't like them or anything--just--I feel guilty. For being part of a place that caused them so much pain."
He was torn between squirming discomfort at the reminders and an indescribable urge to protect her from her own self-deprecation. Eventually he muttered, "Don't... don't be guilty. You aren't the Professor, you didn't plan for any of what happened."
Serena's green eyes were still sad. "I idolized the Professor though... I wanted to impress him by hurting others. And the only way I would have was if I had hurt Ruri. And you."
They were both quiet. The restaurant suddenly seemed too cold for them, or for anyone.
This is why I didn't want to bring these things up, Yuuto lamented, but now that it was out there he couldn't let her wallow in memories she undoubtedly wanted to leave behind.
"Ruri's doing okay," he eventually said. "Still kind of skittish about trusting new people, but she smiles more now, and we can go to different schools without freaking out."
His dinner partner perked up. "That's great... really great." When she smiled, even hesitantly, it made the atmosphere that much warmer.
"Yeah. After--after everything, it's nice to see people smiling."
The waiter came around requesting their dessert orders; recalling his earlier concerns, Yuuto started to sweat, but Serena just waved the guy away and turned her focus back to him.
"What about your smile, Yuuto?"
He stared blankly at her.
"Listen," she elaborated. "I think we have a lot in common. We're both serious, more mature, talented, quiet. But that doesn't mean I don't ever want to see you looking like you're happy. Especially when we're out on a date!"
Yuuto laughed abruptly--he couldn't help it, her raised voice at the end and her indignant look caught him off guard.
"I mean it! Are you even enjoying yourself?!"
"Of course I am!" he burst out. "I like this, it feels comfortable. It just may not seem that way because--because I--was trying not to hurt you by mentioning Academia, or Heartland."
The words were out now--but while Serena took to looking contemplative, that never became irritation or anger. In fact--her face softened, like she was on the same wavelength.
"I get it. You didn't want to make things awkward..."
But the way she trailed off made his stomach sink even as he nodded. She’s going to throw her drink in my face and march off...
“...Yuuto? It’s good for us to talk about our new lives, but it would be better if we agree to talk about the past too. Our pasts. If you’re comfortable with it, it won’t be awkward, and it’ll make our future dates as nice as this one.”
A moment after she finished speaking Yuuto’s sinking stomach was propelled right back up into the clouds. Serena’s hesitant grin and her words were spinning around in his head.
We can talk about the past.
Future dates.
He felt warm and validated--and the more she talked about tomorrows, the more he liked her and wanted to spend some of those tomorrows with her.
“So what do you say?” she was asking now. “I’m willing to open up some more if you are.”
No time was wasted pausing to think on this. Yuuto knew his date liked swift, decisive people, so he found it best to immediately take her hand instead.
I really, really wanted to write something set in Xyz during the time just before Yuuto and Shun skip off to Standard--especially after learning, you know, that they left some people there.
"Shun?" she called, knocking once more on the back door. "I've brought more soup. Can I come in today?"
As she waited, Sayaka braced herself for the inevitable refusal. Though it had grown softer over time, Shun’s forceful voice had denied her and any others entry to his old home ever since Ruri was kidnapped on her way back to it. There was really no reason why today would be any different.
“...Come in, Sayaka.”
She almost dropped the soup bowl. It was overcast today again, but for her the sun may as well have just come out, and brought some flying pigs for good measure.
Her mother’s voice echoed in her head from an old memory. Wonderful, Sayaka-chan! Remember to always persevere. Always take at least one step forward. If not for yourself, then for those you care about.
“Coming,” she said hastily, and pushed the door open with her hip. Above her, moths made a break for the back door’s light; at waist level, a thin layer of dust covered cabinets, chairs and couches.
She eventually found Shun in his bedroom (which of course she blushed furiously before entering) cradling his left arm to his side, which once again put the poor soup bowl in danger of befriending the floor.
“Oh my--are you okay?!”
The older boy visibly winced. “I’m fine... besides you damaging my ears with that shriek.”
“But your arm...”
“I’ve got it handled. About that soup...”
Sayaka set it down on the old dresser beside him, relieved it was still warm. “Here it is.”
Shun didn’t thank her, which was nothing new--normally she waited outside for hours calling to him before finally leaving the food for him to sneak out and get. No thank-you notes ever materialized outside the refugee shelter after their usual routine of him coming to get food, either, so she didn’t wait around for any changes now.
That didn't mean she wasn't a little hurt by his new habit of pushing everyone away.
"Quit that."
She startled out of her own head, going even redder when she saw Shun's gold eyes pinning her in place like dumb prey. "I--I-- wh--wha?"
"Staring, Sayaka--quit staring," he snapped, between slurps of soup and minor position-shifts on his bed.
The reprimand left her dumbfounded at first, before his behavior as a whole caused Sayaka to feel a flicker of annoyance. With another bit of bravery still left in her, she snapped right back. "I was only counting how many times I might have already made you a splint if you weren't so stubborn!"
Shun turned to look at her faster than he ever had; he even had the good sense to look apologetic and sheepish as he held out his broken arm and tried out some one-handed soup-slurping.
Sayaka had the splint done in less than an hour.
"Thanks," Shun said softly at the end, grudgingly. He seemed to mellow out the longer she'd had her hands on him. He still wasn't the way he'd been before the invasion--but Sayaka didn't think he ever would be again. It didn't seem possible to go back.
While washing the soup bowl and some of her old clothes across the house, she looked around for its other occupant, noticing for the first time on her way back that he didn't seem to be there. That was probably the main reason behind Shun's strikingly good mood.
"Shun," she queried gently as she re-entered his space, "where's Yuut--?"
"Don't."
Ack! Despite herself, she quailed. His tone had slipped into the subzero range. Worse, it meant that Yuuto was gone. But had he run off to clear his head or--or had he been--?!
"B-b-but what... happened to him?"
Shun's voice was a growl all the way through. "Left. To try and find clues about where they took Ruri."
Left? "So he's left Heartland? Left the continent?"
"No. He's left our dimension--without me."
"Our dimension? Kuro--Shun, what do you mean 'our dimension'?"
"I mean," he bit out impatiently, "there's more than just our world. Academia came to attack us from another dimension--that's what we found out, that's why we'd never heard of them before. And there are two more dimensions besides this one and theirs."
Dimensions... Academia... Yuuto, gone. As if Sayaka didn't already want to crawl under a rock and die every day. First my cowardice got Ruri taken without even a fight, now Yuuto's left to find her before I could stop him. I've made Shun lose his sister and his best friend! How can he stand to look at me?
She tried to inject some hope into the despondent conversation. "Yuuto can't have left any earlier than the day before yesterday. M-Maybe... he'll be back soon, with Ruri!"
"I'm not waiting around to find out. I'm following Yuuto, and we'll be coming back with her."
The words dropped the bottom out of her world.
Even in the darkest days and times, Yuuto or Shun had shown up to save her, Allen and Kaito from the ruthless Obelisk soldiers. Yuuto leaving without word was bad enough--and severely crippled their counterattack forces. But Shun knowingly leaving them at Academia's mercy as well...?!
"You can't!" she blurted desperately. This was not a penance she was ready to pay for her sin against her best friend--nor was it one any of them could afford to pay.
"I have to go."
"No! You don't! What about the Resistance--who will help Kaito lead us? Who can protect all our territory when we're already spread thin? What about the innocent families--children--who are too scared to duel now, or have forsaken dueling? They'll be carded without you!"
"Then they'll have to learn how to fight!" Shun barked. "Just like Yuuto and I did."
"But--they're--they're not all tough and fearless like you!"
"They'll learn!" he roared, waving his good arm. He looked wild, mad as a hatter. "I can't stay here and babysit the whole city while my sister's in danger. I won't."
"Shun, please--"
He got up, shrugging his father's old coat stiffly around his non-functional arm. "I've already made up my mind."
Sayaka cursed her eyes, feeling them sting. Do I really have to lose him too, on top of everything else? "Please, Shun! We need you. Don't--don't leave us!"
That made him stop, if only for a minute. The whole dimension held its breath with her, awaiting his final word.
"...All right, I'll stay. But just until my arm is healed."
Everything breathed in. Sayaka could not remember oxygen ever before having such a bittersweet tang.
Perhaps their peace would have lasted a long time, but Shun was gone when Sayaka woke up.
She'd fallen asleep last night after eating some old bread he'd pushed at her--all she remembered was him insisting she take the bed, then a hazy thought that he'd slept nearby all night to look after her, close enough that his breathing overexcited her before lulling her to sleep.
When she did wake up, Shun's old jacket was draped around her, and she'd felt a rush of excitement and satisfaction before realizing what that had to mean.
He lied... he said he'd stay, and he lied.
Eventually she motivated herself to get up and put things back in order before heading back to the remnants of the rebellion--she had to go, or Allen would be worried out of his mind.
But Sayaka stopped just before she started dusting covers and wiping down surfaces. Shun was gone and he might never come back, even if he did find Ruri. There was too much of a disconnect between him and home now.
In the last conversation they might have ever had, he yelled at her and was painfully selfish. Why should she do anything else for him?
I shouldn't lift another finger for Kurosaki Shun, not after he abandoned us. Knowingly. But--why does even thinking that make me hurt?
She gathered the bowl she'd brought, scurrying out the door.
Why am I still trying to see his side, after all of this?
She ducked down alleys and went through other abandoned houses to avoid the soldiers combing the streets, but the stinging pain in her heart and the questions in her mind couldn't be avoided.
Shun may have left today, but he's really been gone for too long. Why am I just missing him now?
I've written 9/20 of my total fills, so I'm at an okay pace now. (Which means I will be writing these into next week agh.)
In this setting, imagine that Serena and Yuugo have been recruited as Lancers during the Junior Youth Championship and are waiting out Academia's invasion in a safehouse with other tournament non-participants.
(All degree mentions are meant to be in Fahrenheit. 'Murica. (lmao))
Please relax and enjoy one of my favorite rarepairs.~
"Want some hot chocolate?" Yuugo asked excitedly. He was hopping from foot to foot as he watched the drink machine mix, pour and stir a cup.
Serena just gave him a weird look. "No thanks. I'm warm enough. You know, since you've grabbed or turned on every source of heat in this house for us."
He just stuck his tongue out at her. "You're welcome, Serena, for making sure we stay alive in this blizzard."
"You're kidding, right? It's barely twenty-seven degrees outside. My Fusion bedchamber was colder than this."
Yuugo didn't say anything for a bit, which was odd enough--but when he gave her the finished cup of hot chocolate he'd been practically salivating over, Serena knew she'd put her foot in her mouth somehow.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Nothin'."
Ugh. "Come on, Yuugo."
He was staring out the window into Maiami, watching the people pull on gloves and huddle together to trudge through the snow. "It's just... I forget sometimes that you're basically a soldier, you went through all this endurance training and shit. So stuff like this... you're not even uncomfortable, because you're used to having supplies even in the worst of weather."
Oh. Damn it.
She in turn sometimes forgot that her fellow newly minted Lancer was (still) an orphan. Though she hadn't been fond of her circumstances, at least she'd had some...
"I thought... well, that Rin took care of things for you."
Yuugo shrugged. Since he was wearing seven blankets, his shoulders barely moved. "She made sure I was fed and safe from Security, yeah--but she's still my friend, not my mom. There was only so much we could do for each other. We couldn't always find shelter or warm clothes or nice people to stay with, and so sometimes in the winter we just, you know...."
Froze.
Serena's hunch had been right. She'd stuck her foot so far in it that her ankles were probably in her mouth too.
No wonder he doesn't mind being stuck in this safe house while we wait for the tournament to be over. There's food, and space, and blankets... and he doesn't have to worry about extremities breaking off.
"...Sorry."
"It's fine, you didn't know." His bright blue eyes narrowed. "Hey, don't start feeling sorry for me or anything--"
"Who, me? Never."
The only problem was, how was Serena supposed to make fun of him for lovingly cradling hot chocolate packets and jamming the plus button on the heater when she knew now why he was so enthralled with all these basic requirements for winter survival?
Plus, now Yuugo was running back and forth between the heater, the stove and the microwave, marveling at how fast and efficient they all were. He looked stupid and--and adorable at the same time.
"I'm still not warm," he whined now, jiggling in place and looking absolutely pitiful.
But no less adorable.
That decided it.
"Oh, fine, come over here," she said exasperatedly. "If we sit close together with all our blankets we'll be warmer."
"Really? WAHOO!" Yuugo leapt up into the air, practically clicking his boots together under all those blankets without falling down somehow. He practically zoomed over to sit down with her on the couch.
A second later, though, he got a glint in his eyes and a curiously hopeful look that Serena didn't like...
