A/N: This fic is manga-verse, because the different backstories for most of the characters is really fascinating. :D I wish I could find it somewhere to read, but in the meantime I'll make do with the WIkia summaries. This collection of ficlets are centred on Luna and Leo's history in the manga, up until the point they get their dragons. I don't think you need to be familiar with the manga; I'm covering their history anyway and this is pre-season. :D
It's also written for the Dicing Up Songs Challenge on the Yugioh 5D's Challenge Forum (the link's in my profile for anyone interested!), using the song Ruminasu from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Each line will be the prompt for a chapter, going in chronological order to eventually spell out the whole song. This song has 36 lines, so the fic will be 36 chapters.
And here's the first of them. Enjoy.
Twin Circuit
1. The warmth that our hearts share
They've got each other, their decks, and a means to get money to run the house and fill their stomachs and that's all they need. It doesn't matter that they're young. It doesn't matter that they lack experience. They're a better combination than any man with their loneliness, and they show it well.
Their bike is small and has four wheels instead of two: it looks more like a cart. But they can't ride anything bigger: they're too small, too new at these sorts of duels. It's not a Duel Runner, but they manage with it: it's the cart they used to play with when they were small, when they still had their parents. It's not an innocent little cart anymore; they fixed it up, replaced the toy motor with a real one and the thin wheels with proper ones, both from the car. After all, they can't use the car for anything except some cash, and that wouldn't last forever.
Their first duel is a scary one, but easily won. Leo takes the wheel as he always used to, Luna sitting behind him for support. She's the voice of reason for him: the one who steers him back onto path when he goes off, and he's the knight who cuts through the enemies and carries them both to the finish line.
She gives him his cards and they win together, sharing their playing deck, their hand, their strategy. And the ridiculing laughter when they first appeared on the underground duelling track is replaced by admiration as they take their first of many victory laps.
Leo's heart is pounding as he finally lets go of the steering wheel. It's still the old one, and the cart's been pushed past its limits and is a little creaky, but it survived their first battle. And Luna takes their prize because he's still shell-shocked in his seat, and she's better at staring down adults anyway. Because the guy's a sore loser and doesn't want to pay a bet to a couple of kids, but Luna's firm and rules are rules and they drive away together with their first winnings.
It looks like a fortune too, though they will come to learn the value of money in later times and duels. But, for now, the only thing that matters to the two of them is that they're safe and they've got some cash to fill the almost empty cupboards up and still have a bit left over. The first bill hasn't come yet, so they don't think about that; they think about their cart instead, with its cracking frame and a wheel Leo's had to grip too hard to control. They think about how cutthroat the world they've entered is, and how they'll go on with it, and it'll give them everything they need to live off. They think how they don't need relatives that have cut them off, or stupid laws that won't let them touch their inheritance until they're eighteen.
And they think of the thrill of their little rollercoaster ride and think they can do this forever, together. Because Luna's there to keep Leo calm, to make sure they don't go too far and crash, and Leo's there too, to make sure nothing can happen to Luna, because he'll protect her.