Fill for the ficathon prompt "AU where everything is the same except Shark and Yuuma were adopted by Dr. Faker some time before the plot happened". Enjoy the first part!
brothers
Kaito's surprised when his father arrives with the two boys.
Haruto just fell asleep and Kaito, already in his pyjama, lays next to him, wondering if it's worth it to get up, brush his teeth and go to his bed or if he should just stay there with Haruto. He's about to dose of when he hears someone entering the room. Assuming that it's just Chris checking on Haruto again, he sits up slowly, looking around in the dim light, trying to spot Chris' silhouette. When the lights are turned on, it's not Chris smiling at him and telling him he should go and sleep in his own bed, but Dr. Faker, who holds two boys in each hand and looks surprised to see him there. He hesitates, not sure what he's supposed to do.
"Kaito?"
"What?", he says getting up and crossing his arms. There are probably better ways to greet your father after you haven't properly talked to him for ages, but Kaito doesn't really care, because what perfectly summarizes everything he wants to say right now. What do you want, what are these kids doing here, what were you thinking when you left us alone for such a long time?
Faker apparently decides to answer the second question, introducing him to the boys, Ryoga and Yuma. They are orphans and Faker decided to adopt them. Kaito lets him talk, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. When he's finished, Kaito just raises an eyebrow, trying not to show that he had no idea how to react properly.
After Faker left without really saying anything else, Kaito looks at the boys. He doesn't want to trust them, the whole thing seems pretty suspicious, but then he realizes that they're just children and shrugs. They're still kids, probably about eleven or twelve years old and he doesn't want to scare them. There's a enough space in the tower for all of them, the two of them could just take one of the spare rooms.
He gets to know Yuma and Ryoga better over the next few weeks and months. Since he can't always be there to look after Haruto, he eventually has to leave the three of them alone rather often. Haruto loves playing with them, and Yuma seems to love Haruto, too. He's a really cheerful boy and almost never stops talking. Ryoga is pretty well-behaved but rather calm and kind of shy. He's a very skilled duellist as well and Kaito notices that he tends to get embarrassed pretty easily, especially when Yuma's around. Soon Ryoga and Yuma start to teach Haruto duelling, while Kaito watches them play sometimes, happy to see Haruto finally found some friends.
Chris says that Yuma's father was involved in some of Fakers' research and Ryoga's family was well-known for their influence and money. Kaito should keep an eye on them, because there had to be a reason why Faker adopted them. Chris knows evrything about his relationship to his father and about Haruto's illness. He also knew about the Numbers, that's why he and Kaito keep training each evening, although most days Kaito is already exhausted from Heartland's training. Kaito doesn't understand what he means, why should he keep an eye of them, it's not like they could be a threat for Haruto, but Chris just shakes his head, hands now resting on his shoulders.
"What if they keep getting better at duelling? Dr. Faker might want them to become Numbers Hunters as well."
Kaito takes a step back, only to look into Chris' eyes properly, without shoving his hands away.
"If they're supposed to be my brothers, I'll make sure to protect them as well."
Chris just sighs, shaking his head again. He bends down a little, hesitates for a second before pressing his lips to Kaito's cheek. Then he moves a little closer to his ears as if he wants to whisper something in Kaito's ear, but then he pulls away again, muttering a short "whatever", turns away and leaves. Assuming that Chris is probably just tiered, he lets him go without asking any more questions. It's not necesarry to ask right now because Kaito still needs to figure out what the whole situation meant to him anyway. He'll just talk to him tomorrow, since he's sure that Chris will definitely show up for their training tomorrow.
He doesn't.
Yuma and Ryoga got better and better at duelling, well at least Ryoga. Yuma was way too stubborn, not willing to work on his deck or learn something about tactic, barely being able to pronounce the word, but it made Haruto laugh and that was all that mattered. It were these little things that made Kaito forget his pain these days, not that he had enough time to feel bad about himself ever since Chris left and he had started to collect Numbers. So whenever Yuma exclaims that he'll become the World Duel Champion after losing against Haruto again, Kaito doesn't care to bite back the smile.
Ryoga who keeps getting better even participated in tournaments and makes it to the nationals. They're in the duellist waiting room, wishing him good luck shortly before the start of the duel, when the door opens and a girl storms inside, hugging Ryoga tightly.
"Ryoga!"
Kaito is just about to get her away from him, thinking she's just a weird fan, when Haruto tugs his sleeve, gesturing him to look at the two. To his surprise, Ryoga's actually hugging the girl back and stroking her hair awkwardly.
"Rio... how did you here?" He gently shoves her away a little, hands resting on her shoulders, looking at her properly. She pouts.
"Gosh, Ryoga, you're still such an idiot. I'm here to watch the duel. Shortly after you got adopted, Michael's oldest brother returned and took him and Thomas home and they adopted me as well. Your opponent, IV, he's actually Thomas!" She smiles at him and he remembers the older blond and red-haired boy and his much friendlier younger brother. They used to be at the same orphanage as the twins. One time, Rio and Michael suddenly went missing and he was convinced that had Michael kidnapped her so he challenged Michael's brother, Thomas, to a duel – and lost, much to Thomas amusement. Not much later both of them returned save and sound, giving Thomas another reason to make fun of Ryoga.
He pulls her into a hug again, burying his face in her shoulder, hearing Yuma mutter something about why he never told them about this girl.
"I'm so sorry, Rio, and I really missed you." He never wanted to get adopted without Rio, they swore to always stay together, but Faker insisted on taking him, only him, and when adults wanted something, they always got it, no matter how much he fought and tried to convince him to at least take Rio as well. It's a miracle for him to get to hold her in his arms again and he feels his eyes getting wet, much to his annoyance. He's definitely not going to cry in front of Kaito and the others. Rio seems to notice and just chuckles.
"No need to cry, I'll never leave my idiot brother alone again."
She breakes their hug, takes his right hand and pulls a ring from her finger, then pulls it over his little finger, so now there are two rings on his right hand. "See, a part of me is always with you, now make sure to win this duel."
He almost forgot about the duel, but then the door is opened again and IV and two other boys come in. It took Ryoga some time to realize that one of them is Michael. He doesn't recognize the last man, who had long bluish hair, but he figures that it has to be their oldest brother.
"Rio, hurry up, the duel is starting."
Rio gives Ryoga an other smile, wishes him good luck and then walks over to Michael, who smiles at her in an honest way. Ryoga looks at both of them for a while before looking at Kaito, who, though usually calm and collected, is actually staring at IV's older brother in obvious disbelieve, mouth wide open. Haruto and Yuma are talking about something again just like Rio and Michael. None of them see IV stepping uncomfortably close next to Ryoga, whispering something into his ears. Ryoga's eyes widen and he clenches his fists, but IV smirks, saying he should keep their little secret, to spare the others from worrying. Then IV walks over to Rio and his brothers again, putting a hand on her shoulder, telling them they should hurry up because the duel is just about to start. Yuma nods, saying they should probably get to their seats as well and telling Ryoga that he should better win this duel.
He doesn't.
Being just thirteen and fourteen now, Yuma and Ryoga have to go to school. Yuma often likes to complain about the fact that they had to go while Haruto, who was old enough to go to school as well, doesn't. Haruto often complains about staying at home when the others are at school.
Yuma once came home from school and told them he got a new class mate today, no one less than Michael Arclight. Kaito wasn't sure how to react, knowing that if Michael was in town, Chris had to be somewhere, too, but he tries not to care about it too much. He already has enough things to deal with.
Yuma and Michael eventually become friends, but Michael tells Yuma to keep it secret. He knows it's better for them, if his family doesn't find out about their relationship, so they don't tell anyone. After school, they meet at ordinary public places, places full of other people, where no one would notice or care about two boys quietly whispering to each other, sometimes about normal things like school or duelling, sometimes about things kids their age shouldn't worry about, things like war and dying. Michael's father is dead, just like Yuma's entire family, but Yuma is convinced that people never really die and fade away, there's always a part of them left in the people who remember them, so his family is not really dead as long as he remembers them. Michael tells him how his father died and came back as a young boy, although he knows he shouldn't talk about it; not to Yuma and not at such crowded place where there could be people overhearing their conversation, but he does anyway.
One time, Yuma duels Michael, a spirit comes out of Yuma's pendant: Astral, messenger of the Astral world.
Michael doesn't come to school again after that.
Ryoga never talks much about school, in fact he barely talks at all since the nationals. If he didn't see the small smiles and touches he and Yuma shared, Kaito would probably worry about Ryoga. There was nothing serious between them, just sometimes their hands would brush against each others or Ryoga would sometimes roll his eyes at Yuma and call him an idiot and then smile when he thought no one saw it. Seeing the two of them being so close, he can't help but think about Chris.
When winter comes and it gets cold outside again, he would sometimes come home to find Haruto already asleep and the two of them on the couch under a blanket, watching TV. When they notice him, Yuma would just tell him to join them already. At first, he finds the thought ridiculous but eventually he gives in, so in the end it's the three of them, huddling under the blanket and Kaito has to admit that it does feel kind of nice. When it's just the three of them, it's easy to forget everything else, and sometimes Haruto would wake up and join them as well and Ryoga would complain that the couch isn't made for four people and Yuma would just call him boring, although all of them know that Ryoga doesn't mean it, never really means it, because he wants all of them around him, too.
They're brothers after all.