His chest hurt, painful throb after throb, as he watched the group in blue uniforms, cruel smirks on their faces as they faced the terrified knights. Images flashed before his eyes, to fast and blurry for him to pick out details. And then he saw the violet flash, layered above dozens and dozens of similar ones, rising like a tidal wave along with his quickening breath. His pleas for it to stop stop stop stop it I don't want to see any more suffering STOP IT.
A scream tears it's way out of his chest as he enters a haze. A roar that he recognises as Odd Eyes echoes in the back of his head, different from the one he swears he could hear when he duels. This sounds angry, and it's followed by another that he doesn't immediately recognise, but still seems familiar, but it too sounds angry, furious even, and it makes the pain increase. Emotions start to accompany the memories. Sadness, fear, regret, but one burns hotter than the others, as if it's coming from more than one source.
Anger.
The pain stops.
His mind feels clearer, focusing on the three duelists about to walk away from the discarded cards laying on the ground.
He takes a step forward.
He'll make them pay.
Yugo flinches, hurrying to turn sharply to stop his momentum, skidding across the ground and gripping the handles like a lifeline with shaky hands. Leaning forward to suck in deep breaths, he places a hand on his chest, grip tight around the fabric. Tears gathered in his eyes, but they didn't fall.
'What the hell just happened?'
It felt like something had suddenly struck his chest. A sharp pain that left as fast as it came, leaving a dull throbbing and aching coldness to spread through him.
Yugo scrambled off his D-Wheel on shaky legs, collapsing on the ground and leaning back against his vehicle. He took of his helmet and swung his head around carefully 'Damnit why am I so dizzy?' worry starting to set in that it could have been Rin he felt. But, his gut told him it was something else.
Someone else.
He felt Clear Wing brush against the back of his mind. He pulled the card out of his deck and held it against his chest with shaky hands and closed his eyes. Trying to slow down his breaths and concentrate on the faint pulsing he could feel from the card in his hand, matching his own heartbeat.
He smiled at the phantom feeling of wind brushing against his hair and the faint ghostly precense of something curling around him and his D-Wheel. He knew if he opened his eyes there would be nothing there, but he was convinced it was Clear Wing's spirit coming to comfort him. He thought he could feel something against his shoulder, nudging at him carefully, as if worried he'd fall over if it pushed to hard.
He frowned as he shuddered, still feeling the chill from before, a cold lump having now settled in his stomach. Right, that. The pain was almost completely gone, but now replaced with an itch to, go. Just go, somewhere.
'Hey Clear Wing, do you know something?'
He thought it half-jokingly, not expecting an answer. The dragon hadn't answered him before, even though he had heard disconnected, single words from Clear Wing, low and as if behind a filter.
But this time he could, through the faint pulsing from the card, feel Clear Wing's emotions.
Clear Wing was worried. That was new, since it wasn't fully directed at him. But he seemed hesitant to tell him more. Well screw that.
"I want to help. Let me help" he whispered to the card, bringing it up to his face. He waited a beat, then two, and as he started to think Clear Wing wouldn't say more, he nearly fell over in surprise when he felt waves of emotions from the card in his hands. But he scrunched his face in concentration and tried to take in eveything.
Worry and, anxiety? He could feel, sadness? He couldn't fully understand everything he brushed past, but he thought he could start to see a picture in his head. The dragon wasn't helping by muting the emotions he was sending over. He sent an annoyed jab over as best he could, and got what he thinks is an amused growl. His face formed what was definitely not a pout, earning him more amused rumbling.
Clear Wing was worried about, someone, or was it two people? And he wanted to go there, and do, what? He wasn't sure. But Yugo wanted to go too now, he had a bad feeling in his gut and the worry was making his insides heavy. He's not sure why he's worried, but he didn't dwell on it, he could do that later.
He could feel the start of a tugging at his core, but it felt flimsy, spread to wide for him to follow without wasting time.
Then, he got a flash of glowing red eyes, belonging to a face twisted in a deep frown and a cruel smile. But he felt it, just for a moment, making him gasp. The burning hot anger simmering under the surface and the pain buried under it, fueling it on.
Yugo's eyes flew open, tears blurring his vision for a moment A few droplets escaped from his eyes while his breaths came out in short bursts. He could feel Clear Wing trying to comfort him, waves of gratitude and praise coming from him and he leaned into it, calming his breathing.
He wiped at his eyes roughly and stood up. He didn't have time to rest now, he had a direction to follow. His skin itched with the desire to go to the person with the glowing eyes and, do what he didn't know. He'd figure it out when he got there. At least he could take small comfort that it hadn't been Rin who had given off that terrible energy.
Climbing back onto his D-Wheel and putting his helmet back on, he didn't think to question why he still felt Clear Wing so close. He just felt comfort at the precense of his partner drifting above him as he drove of in the direction of the tugging.
Unknown to Yugo, they shared a tought at the same time, mind and emotions synchronising.
Just wait a little more, I'll come and meet you now.
They arrived to what appeared to be a small carnage, he gave the ones lying on the ground no more than a glance, gaze focused on the figure further in front of him. He broke into a small jog to catch up, a small breeze playing around his feet.
As he got closer, a haze started to settle over his mind, a name started to rise in his throat, until it was on the tip of his tongue. The person hadn't stopped walking and,
He thinks he may have called out the name, he wasn't sure, it felt blurred. Like it wasn't just one name. But it made the figure stop abruptly, before turning slowly to face him. A throb went through him again as their eyes met.
He stopped a couple feet away. For a moment he just stared into the glowing red eyes, filled with anger until his face turned pinched, raising a hand to clutch his head.
But he didn't break their gaze until he ground out two words that made his head cloud further and a calming, familiar presence blending further with his mind and heart.
"C-Clear, Wing...?"
Annihiliate. Destroy.
Destroy the ones wearing those sharp masks. Who only took and destroyed and hurt them. Annihilate everyone who could be an enemy, who could hurt them.
But then a voice had cut through the cloud in his mind, just for an instant, something about it familiar and nostalgic.
Comforting.
When he turned to look at the one who had called their names, a streak of anger had gone through him, but it fizzled out when he met their eyes. A clear crystal colour, pupils lit with a small glow, emotions shimmered in them to fast for him to pick them out.
His head started to turn foggy, but he didn't, couldn't, break their gaze. The wooziness only intensified when a name tumbled out of his mouth before he fully grasped it.
Yugo took careful steps forward, until he was within arms reach and those red eyes sharpened, watching his every move. He slowly raised his hands, glowing eyes zeroed in, body tensing as if ready to strike, or run, he wasn't sure which.
He was about to swipe at the hands and activate his disk, the clear moment he had a moment ago almost completely gone, replaced again with the want to destroy annihilate everything-
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt at the feeling of warm hands on his cheeks. When had he gotten so close? They were the same height, eyes on the same level and making it harder to avoid looking into them.
Crsytal blue eyes looked at him, a small sad smile on his lips as a thumb brushed carefully under his eye. Flashes of clear summer skies and the ocean flashed in his mind when he looked at them. Something stirred in him the longer he looked. He thought he could feel a breeze brushing softly against his arms and back as if to embrace him.
"It's okay."
He froze at the words, his hands was starting to shake. He was torn between the instinct to shove this weirdly comforting boy away and wrapping his arms around him, crushing him to his chest and burying his face in his neck and hair.
His head felt like it was full of cotton, breath coming out in gasps and he felt a scream start to build in his chest. The first instinct won out as he grit his teeth and took a step back to wrench himself away.
But his mind screeched to a halt again as the boy made true on the breeze's promise and threw his arms around him.
He gasped out a raspy 'let go...' but his mind clouded over at the feeling of the warm body pressed against his and arms wrapped securely around him.
"It's okay. No one will hurt us."
"Clear Wing...!"
"No one will hurt you. I won't allow it as long as we're here. Please calm down." A very light, careful squeeze took the last of his breath out of his lungs.
"And It's not Clear Wing, it's Yugo. Or both. I'm not really sure right now. You've got a name too don't you?"
He did, but he had trouble remembering which one he should be answering with right now.
YugoClearWing pulled back enough to look at him in the eye, arms still wrapped around his neck, but loose enough that he could easily pull away. He didn't.
A sad look appeared in Yugo's eyes. "Don't you think we should let them fight their own battles, Odd-Eyes?
…..Dark Rebellion?"
His whole body jerked at that, mind starting to lose it's focus but it was also getting clearer. But Yugo (or was it Clear Wing?) wasn't done. He moved a hand from around him, moving it down to his chest, where his pendulum hung, still glowing but not as bright as before. He'd placed his fingertips on it, look now turning almost pained.
"But, that probably shouldn't come from me. Since I'm the reason you're like this now." His eyes had gained a shimmer, something that he realised with horror was tears. "...I'm sorry."
He blamed himself. It hit him like a truck. He/they hurried to grab at the hand that was starting to move away from the pendant, grip too tight to be comfortable as emotions and memories started to rise to the forefront again.
"It is not your fault! Neither yours or your little one! We were not strong enough, strong enough to protect them! But his influence is so strong now, we can feel it, Yuya is so easily influenced now, with Yuto here and his memories."
His eyes flashed grey, just for a moment. Easing the tight grip on the hand still grasped in his, he brought it up to his face and leaned his forehead on it, eyes clenched shut. Dark waves started to swirl around him.
"Dark Rebellion is heartbroken over not being able to protect his little charge. Furious at the ones who made him suffer. We may be stronger now but one of us is lost. One step closer to making our master suffer again."
He opened his eyes again, still glowing a bright red, face still twisted with malice on a face that was supposed to smile as bright as the sun.
"But we will not allow them to hurt us again. They will all pay." He growled.
The anger was starting to come back, the darkness swirling harder around him as he remembered the source of his anger. He glanced towards the temple further away, hand slipping out of his grip. A friend of the one inisde them, the one they had already lost, and a traitor was there. No one of Academia will be forgiven.
But his face was grabbed again and turned carefully back towards clear crystal blue eyes. "We cannot protect them as much as we'd like right now. We must let them protect themselves."
His eyes softened again, smile spreading across his face, leaning forward to touch their foreheads together and letting their breaths mingle. The breeze was rustling their hair carefully, cool but not chilly, freeing.
"Let's have faith in them until we need to make our appearance. I want my Yugo to grow as strong as he can be, and I know you want the same for yours."
They did. Yuya could stll grow so strong, even without interference from him. He could feel Dark Rebellion starting to doze at Clear Wing's words, influence waning as Yuya slowly came back to the forefront of their shared mind. He let his little one's emotions wash over them, sad and confused, but not angry, not anymore.
Yuya gave a confused blink at the familiar face in front of him, mind muddled as he let out a groan of pain. He leaned into the pale hands still cupping his face, focusing on the fingertips that brushed against his skin. The palms and fingers were a little rough, but still had a softness to them and it helped ground him.
"I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what's happening to me."
He placed his own hands on top, gripping them slightly. His eyes still glowed, expression twitching as his emotions fought with each other for attention. He was confused, scared, and he knew so little about what was happening.
He saw Yugo(YugoYugoClearWingYugo) frown at his words, but then a look he couldn't catch passed over his face. He startled when Yugo started leaning in, closing his eyes, and as Yuya was about to ask what he was doing, he pressed his lips softly to the his brow.
Yuya frooze, a blush starting to rise to his cheeks. But then he closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of soft lips on his forehead as Yugo kept pressing tiny, chaste kisses there.
Arms wrapping back around his neck and Yuya could feel the tension flow out of him. He moved his hovering arms to wrap around Yugo, feeling his shoulders relax more as he gave into the want to embrace him, hold him close and never let go again.
"I don't really know how to help you there, but," he paused, pulling back to meet his gaze.
His face had a pink tint to it, but he was smiling, a small grin that did something to his stomach even through the calm, comforting haze he had entered. Crystal clear eyes giving off a small glow and bangs moving slightly in the wind, making him look almost ethereal.
"I can be there if nothing else. Maybe we can help each other out. Plus," crystal blues looked away, embarrassed, as pink turned to red, "it can get lonely being by by yourself for so long."
He looked back nervously when Yuya didn't answer right away, face reddening further at his silence. "Hey, don't leave me hanging here. If you're gonna laugh do it already so I can beat you up!"
Yuya snapped out of his daze, giving a jerky nod and what felt like the first genuine smile he'd worn in ages as a small laugh slipped out. He got a bright grin in return, making his own widen in response.
His grip tigthened around Yugo's middle, feeling his shoulders lower from released tension and touching their foreheads together once again. "Thank you." he said with a sigh.
Yugo gave a small hum and leaned into him further, their bodies now pressed flush against each other. Then he remembered he'd been asked a question earlier.
"Yuya."
Yugo gave him a confused look. "Hm?"
"My name. Yuya, Yuya Sakaki. That's my name. You, asked earlier." He shifted his eyes nervously, stumbling over his words. He was holding this guy closer and more intimately than he had anyone in his life while stumbling over an introduction, how lame can he get?
But Yugo didn't seem fazed, as a smile spread over his face. "I'm Yugo! No fancy last name though." He chuckled as if it was a joke, and were Yuya in a clearer state of mind he would have asked. As currently he was still in a dazed phase that was starting to lean slightly to giddy, he was more interested in standing here and not say much.
Yuya buried his face in Yugo's neck. Even covered by the white riding suit it was warm. The haze of anger and destruction was growing weaker with each breath he took, replaced by something else that was comforting and familiar.
He felt he should be more embarrassed about this, embracing someone so closely in broad daylight in the middle of a road. Really, they were basically cuddling.
He distantly remembered he was in the middle of a Battle Royal, that this was being broadcasted to thousands of people.
That he was Yuya Sakaki and many wanted to duel him, were probably looking for him right now and how being seen like this would be really embarrassing.
It was almost enough to make him detangle himself from the warm, comforting hug.
But then Yugo started to thread his fingers through his hair, dragging his nails over his scalp softly with one hand and all thoughts about that promptly went out the window. He nearly melted and gave a soft pleased murmur at the attention.
He should be asking stuff, shouldn't he? Last he'd seen the duelist he'd caused Yuto to die. But somehow he knew it wasn't his fault. The whole 'Pawn of Fusion' thing still wasn't cleared up either.
But he felt safe with him, safe and comfortable. All his worries seemed so distant and not as life changing as he thought they were. What he distantly thought was Yuto felt like it was curling up contentedly in a corner of his mind.
He opened his eyes and looked up at Yugo's amused smile. "You're kinda like a cat, you know that?" He said with a laugh.
Yuya just gave him a sour look, making him laugh again. So Yuya lifted up one hand, still keeping one around Yugo's waist, and started touching the blue and blonde hair, surprised at how soft it was.
As he thread his fingers through the shorter locks in the back, Yugo gave a small sigh and he could feel him shudder.
His stomach was warm and fluttery, a far cry from how cold and heavy it had been when he first got here. He felt relieved, now that the darkness and anger that had surrounded Yuya was gone.
Clear Wing felt happy too, rumbling in content and making him feel weirdly fuzzy. Especially towards Yuya, he barely rememebred him from a few nights ago, that night was mostly a blur, but he shouldn't be this attached and touchy-feely with someone he'd just technically met.
But he did, he felt safe and content, as if a part he'd been missing had been filled in.
Yuya's hand pulled back from his hair, placing it on his cheek instead. Their eyes met again.
He thinks he was leaning in slowly, or maybe it was Yuya? Could be both. They touched foreheads again, gaze still held through half-lidded eyes. He could feel Yuya's breath on his lips and it made him flush, and from the looks of it he wasn't the only one.
He probably should be more embarrassed that he was nearly kissing someone he'd properly met the same day, but his stomach and chest felt like they were full of butterflies. All he had to do was lean forward a little more...
Yuya had been about to close the distance when Yugo suddenly leaned back to cover a large yawn behind a hand. He blinked, feeling as if a spell had broken as the moment passed.
Yugo rubbed his eyes, smiling sheepishly at him, little tears that had squeesed out with his yawn in the corner of his eye.
"Sorry, I've uh, done some pretty tiring stuff. Haven't had a chance to rest for a while."
Dueling those assholes in blue jackets when he came across them, or jerks who couldn't even get his name right weren't tiring by themselves, but connecting with Clear Wing was. Added together he was realising just how badly he wanted a nap.
Yuya blinked, before he burst out laughing. Yugo glared at him until he got it in control.
"Sorry, sorry! It wasn't meant to be mean. How about we go and sleep for the night?" The sky had started to darken before he'd realised it and he was starting to feel tired too.
"Sounds good." Yugo mumbled while rubbing his eyes, exhaustion finally catching up to him as he swayed on his feet.
Yuya smiled at the sight. Looking around, he decided the jungle area was as good a place as any to rest, hopefully there would be something soft to rest on. Reluctantly untangling himself from Yugo, he took hold of his hand, intertwining their fingers and getting a squeeze back in response.
After Yugo picked up the gloves he'd apparently dropped on the ground, they walked first to his odd-looking bike. They reluctantly broke their handhold so Yugo could lead the bike towards the thick jungle, but Yuya stuck as close as he could.
They soon find a large tree with big, shaped roots for them to curl into. Yugo locks up his bike and lays down next to Yuya, where they curl up close to each other.
Yuya wraps an arm around Yugo's waist and feels a hand curl into his shirt in a loose grip.
"Good night."
"Mmmff, gnight..."
Yuya cracks a small smile. Odd-Eyes was a steady precense in his mind, rumbling comfortably.
As sleep sets in, lying on the floor of a jungle created by solid vision during the Maiami Championship, feeling soft breaths on his collarbone and a warm body of a supposed stranger curled next to him. As Yuya looked at Yugo's peaceful face, he felt safer and more at ease than he'd ever been in his life as he let sleep fully take him as well.