Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedfback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal
Title: Her Reasonings
Characters: Rio
Word Count: 500||Status: One-shot
Genre: Family||Rated: G
Challenge: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Flash Bingo, prompt #038, justify
Summary: [one-shot, Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Flash Bingo, #038, justify; Rio] They are Barians. There is no getting around that. And now, a choice must be made.

She wasn't doing this just for him. By whatever name she chose to use, Kamishiro Rio, Merag, didn't do anything simply because her brother did it. She wasn't the kind of person who would simply nod and smile and agree to anything because of anyone else. Even when that 'anyone else' was her brother.

She'd said it before. She would say it again. She would never, ever be the kind of person who could be used against him in any way. The very idea made ice crackle at her fingertips and fury burn through her veins.

She was not a tool. She wasn't a pawn who could be used to improve someone's chances at defeating him, no matter what anyone thought. If there were any people who didn't believe that, she would convince them otherwise, and if it hurt them, then they never should have tried to hurt her in the first place.

They were Barians. She could deny that no more than he could. She remembered centuries in the Barian World, growing strong and skilled in the use of their powers, growing closer to one another with a timeless time to do so in. She didn't remember everything; she didn't know if she ever would. She wanted to; there were important matters in the gaps in her mind. But for now, she had to deal with what she had, and the choice that she would make.

But she did not have to fight beside him simply because he chose to side with Durbe, Mizael, Alit, Gilag, and Vector.

She still didn't like Vector, no matter what they chose. There was something about him that made her skin crawl, be it rock or be it flesh. Perhaps it was the simple fact he was Vector, and he'd tormented Yuuma as badly as he had.

The choice wouldn't be easy, for that reason alone. To side with the people who'd fought the boy who'd helped her brother so much? She knew why it hurt him in the depths of his soul, and it hurt her just as much. The thought of seeing Kotori's eyes turned on her in horror wasn't one she enjoyed.

But she had to make a choice, and it had to be soon.

And she knew, honestly, there was no other choice that she could make. Not because Ryouga, because Nasch was her brother, but because of what would happen if she didn't. Because while Durbe was the shield, she was the sword, doing that which no one else could do.

Because if she chose to fight him, then this world, which was as much home as Earth, would fall, and she could not let that happen.

Because if she fought him, she couldn't tell who would win, and they needed to be certain, one way or the other.

Because if she fought him, she would be used against him, and that went against everything she believed in.

"I'll fight with you, brother," she told him, and did.

The End