between studying and working (almost 20 hours of work as a secretary for a location for the past weekend's referendum) i doodled some stuff here and there. mostly more silly aus featuring a new swap au, an angel au, and the bands au ive mentioned (pre shun joining toshio)
arc-v's returner writing can be. questionable? but i think my favorite variant of it is kaito or more specifically. kaito being relatively chummy with shun and Personally invested in saving ruri/the injustice of her being kidnapped. like i feel the need to stress, kaito fighting for someoene else's family issues at all (let alone when his is in crisis) is unthinkable for. most of zexal? like he did not give a single shit about the kamishiros, and well. we know chris had brothers. we tried to kill them. like dueling for someone else's family is A Lot for kaito. same for having him tag duel perfectly in sync without words with shun like kaito. sucks. at tag duels. way mroe than shark and yuma. spends his first one using a field spell that screws over his partner and needing to almost die to cooperate At all. but nope he can duel fine with shun.
so like. the impressoin it gives me is either
the arc-v writers aren't sure of how to write him despite that he's relatively in character otherwise,
he was perfectly capable of getting involved in someone else's familial drama and close to someone who's by default abrasive adn just hated ryouga specifically, or
“So the uh, pastries are apparently nice,” Ruri said with forced calm in her voice before sighing. “Oh to hell with it, let’s just get it over with and talk to them. I’ll handle your moron brother, you handle mine.”
here's my piece for the @ygorarepairs mini bang!! i had so much fun with this, and i'm so glad i can finally post it!! the paired fic that goes with it is by EmeraldHypothesis on AO3 (linked here!!), be sure to give it a read, it was so fun to work with him on this project and they're super talented! 💞
Content Warnings: Werewolf AU, non graphic/non described body horror, several Obelisk Force members get (non graphically) killed
Ao3
(Full fic also below the cut!)
Shun races through the ruined streets of Heartland, looking for that familiar flash of blond hair. Normally he'd have a bit more stealth, but tonight? When the full moon hangs high in the sky and Kaito most certainly should not be out?
Caution is going out the window a little bit.
A noise echoes in the distance and Shun comes to a halt, listening. For a moment, all is quiet, then the sound of distant screaming breaks the silence of the ruins.
"Shit- Kaito!" All at once, Shun is moving again, beelining for the source of the noise with no care for stealth whatsoever. He vaults over a chunk of rubble that blocks the street, rounds an unstable building that might have once been a house, and there-
-There's a great blond furred werewolf, an Obelisk Force member hanging limp by one arm in the beast's jaws. Several more Obelisk Force members lay still on the ground, masks askew and blood staining their uniforms, and Shun can see a few of them still moving.
One injured Fusion Duelist stirs, reaching for his shieldlike Duel Disk, and Shun springs into action, swinging his own Disk up and carding him without hesitation. Another flash of movement, another Obelisk Force member stirring, and Shun cards that one too. Pocketing the two cards, he looks around, glancing over the battlefield-
-then he spots blue hair peeking up over a half collapsed wall. Shun rounds the wall, pulling around just in time to catch a glimpse of a bloodstained blue jacket and wide (pained, panicked) green eyes before the assumed Fusion Duelist promptly warps out in a flash of light.
"Damn it-" Shun's frustrated curse cuts short as he realizes that the Fusion Duelist wasn't looking at him in fear, but was instead looking at something behind him. He whips around just as a snarl sounds behind him, raising his arm in time to meet sharp fangs lunging for him.
Pain lances down Shun's arm, and it's all he can do to not try to yank away from Kaito's grip. Sucking a sharp breath in through his teeth to steady himself, he forces himself to meet the werewolf's blue eyes, forces himself to not show fear.
(He hasn't got time to waste. If Kaito were to stand up on his hind legs now, with Shun's arm between his teeth, Shun would be left dangling and helpless.)
"...Kaito, it's me. It's Shun. I'm on your side." Shun's voice is as even as he can make it through the pain, and for a tense moment, Kaito doesn't move, ears pinned flat to his skull as he softly growls. Then he blinks, huffs, and lets Shun go, backing off to rear up and sniff at the air, presumably in search of any more Fusion invaders.
"...They're all gone, Kaito." Shun says as he cradles his arm, trying to stem the blood loss as best he can. "We need to get back to shelter for the night, now."
Shun really isn't sure how much Kaito understands in this state, but his words seem to have some sort of effect as Kaito drops back down onto all fours and watches as Shun trudges back the way he came. Shun turns back, seeing Kaito still standing there, then awkwardly gestures until the great beast follows him.
---
'The hideout' turns out to be a barren store of some kind, most of the goods long picked clean by desperate Heartland residents. After making sure Kaito has actually followed him in, Shun digs out the emergency kit hidden on the back of a shelf by the Resistance and opens it up to reveal assorted medical supplies and shelf stable foodstuffs. He digs out a roll of gauze, then, glancing back at Kaito as he flops across the floor near the checkout, unwraps a cereal bar and tosses it at the werewolf. Kaito sniffs it, huffs, then turns to stare at Shun in what he can only assume is annoyance as he removes his longcoat to get at his bitten arm.
"Don't look at me like that Kaito, it's all we got right now." Shun snaps as he cleans the blood as best he can, giving him the chance to clearly see the wound for the first time.
(A deep bite wound, still oozing blood as he sets to wrapping it with gauze. Normally Shun would be worried about infection, but considering what inflicted it, he figures he's got bigger problems than normal infections.)
"...Can werewolves get tetanus?" Shun asks Kaito, who just yawns and glances away. No help there, which figures.
Satisfied that his bite wound is wrapped, Shun repacks the kit (minus a few cereal bars, he wants those for later), stuffing it back on the shelf before plopping down on the floor with his back to the barren metal shelf and his coat folded to the side. His small bag, which he's been carrying this whole time, is held on his lap, while his Duel Disk remains attached to his left arm (mercifully, also his good arm) just in case.
"I'll keep watch tonight Kaito, you're not in a state to watch for anything right now." Kaito's ear twitches in response to Shun's voice, and Shun, adjusting himself to better cradle his bad arm in his lap, settles in to keep watch through the clear glass doors.
---
Dawn is signalled by sound of Kaito whining in pain as the sun's light stretches across the dirty white floor of the store, giving Shun all the signal he needs to turn around to give his fellow Resistance member some privacy. More whining, overlaid by noises that Shun, quite frankly, does not want to know the source of/how a living body is making them, and finally, pained, heavy, but human breathing.
"I have clothes in the bag for you, Kaito." Shun (still facing away for Kaito's sake) slides the bag in Kaito's direction, who takes it and, by the sounds of his footsteps on the floor, ducks behind the checkout counter to get dressed.
"...One of the Fusion invaders you attacked last night got away," Shun states while waiting for Kaito to emerge.
"An Obelisk Force?" Kaito's voice responds from behind the counter, and Shun can imagine his frown as he pieces together what happened during the night. It's been like this over the past few months; Shun filling Kaito in on what he did while transformed.
"No, he wasn't dressed like an Obelisk Force. Blue hair and coat, green eyes, looked like you bit his arm. He warped away when he saw you coming."
"..." A sigh sounds behind the counter, followed by heavy footsteps as Kaito finally steps out. Shun turns to look at Kaito, trying to downplay his own arm injury, but by the look on Kaito's face, he can tell there's no point in hiding it.
"Stand up and let me see that." Kaito steps over and Shun grimaces before obeying, letting Kaito unwrap and examine his injured arm. For a moment, it's silent, broken only by a muttered curse from Shun as Kaito looks, then Kaito finally turns away with his usual serious look.
"...You should know it's not just the full moon that forces me to change. I go through emotional changes, too."
"Emotional- you turn when you get mad?" Shun's never seen Kaito go through that, but then again, it's Kaito.
"Mad or stressed. I have practice avoiding that, but you don't." Kaito glances back, and Shun knows damn well what Kaito means. His temper has never been super, and especially not when confronted with the invaders.
"What about you? You never had problems with running off before your father and Haruto were carded." Kaito tenses at being reminded of his family, but otherwise doesn't storm off or snap back like he would have for anyone else, so Shun continues. "You bit people last night. I don't care about the Obelisk Force members you killed, or the ones I carded, but the one who got away will be the same as us now."
Kaito still doesn't respond, giving Shun the chance to slowly put a hand (his good arm; the bitten one is still sore, if somewhat less so now) on his shoulder.
"Kaito, I get it. Those bastards took my sister too. If you let me help you-"
Just then Shun's Duel Disk pings with an incoming message, and Shun hesitates until Kaito glances at it. Huffing, he lets go of Kaito to properly answer the video call, making sure to keep his injured arm out of frame.
"Oh good, you weren't carded." Yuto blinks from the video, his gaze fixing on Kaito watching with his arms crossed in the background. "As happy as I am that you seem to have found someone-"
"It's not like that, Yuto." Shun's interjection comes too quickly, earning a doubtful look from Yuto, and belatedly Shun remembers he's still not wearing his coat.
"Uh-huh. Anyway, you two need to get out here, we found a bunch of dead Obelisk Force members and Sayaka's not taking it well."
In the background Shun can hear the sound of someone freaking out, and he sighs. "We'll be there soon."
Shun reaches to end the video call, and he hears a frantic "Wait, what happened to your arm-" from Yuto before he's cut off.
"Let's go, Kaito. Yuto found those Obelisk Force members." Shun quickly rewraps his arm, collecting his coat and throwing it back on before abruptly remembering something.
"Oh yeah, here." Digging through his coat, he locates three of the cereal bars he took from that emergency kit and passes two of them to Kaito, who takes them and immediately rips one open. The third he keeps for himself, to eat on the go. "You didn't eat at all last night, so I know you're starving."
"Thank you." The two set off, heading back towards where the bodies were left without another word.
