Nico and West wanted to know about him and his past. About the other three people who helped save the town and how they met. And who was Kiryu to refuse them? He just didn't expect that revisiting those old memories would make him feel like it did.
Good lord, this thing took so long to make... I've just been so busy with other stuff that I forgot all about it.
Anyway, it's a sort-of-but-not-really-request from Chiamocha on Tumblr. Nothing special, just a bit of an insight into team Satisfaction/Enforcers
Read, review and enjoy ^^
It was a cool and calm night in Satisfaction town as Kiryu sat atop one of the buildings, looking up at the sky. He could never see the stars in Satellite – the pollution and dark clouds always covered the sky. And he found they were beautiful. One knee pulled up, his arm resting over it, while the other arm hung over the edge of the roof… It felt like the old times, when he would patrol for the night. A small chuckle even escaped him as he thought about it. Playing cop like that and ending up doing what he did… It was ironic.
"Kiryu?" someone called softly from below, and Kyosuke looked down, seeing two familiar kids looking up at him.
"Nico? West? What are you doing?" he asked from above, surprised to find them up at this hour. Before he could actually say anything more, the kids were already climbing up after him and settled on both sides of him.
"We were worried about you," the two admitted, looking at him and then at the sky.
"Are you watching the starts?" Nico asked, glancing at the dots in the darkness.
"Yeah… Where I grew up, I could never really see them. So, I'm enjoying them here."
"Where you grew up?" West blinked, looking at him. "You never did tell."
"Yeah, and was it with those friends of yours? Yusei, Crow and Jack? You seemed really close when you were together."
A weak smile came onto the marked man's lips as he lowered his gaze onto the dusty road. "Yeah, you could say that, we were like brothers. And judging by what happened before; it seems we still are…"
"Why wouldn't you be?" the children gave him curios looks and the man laughed. The siblings shared a look of slight worry, before their guardian calmed down.
"A lot of things… happened. This was probably the first time in a while that we've all been together again…"
"What happened then?" Nico asked carefully, knowing it could probably be a sensitive topic.
"Or tell us what was it like then! You looked unstoppable!"
"Heh," Kiryu smiled, looking at the two. "You sure you want to know?" they nodded eagerly and Kyosuke looked back up at the sky. "I meet the three of them at an orphanage…" the two smiled and settled down, anticipating what was to be said.
"I was living on my own since… a long time," Kiryu wasn't really sure where to even start off. "Satellite, it wasn't a good place… Something happened once before – I was four I think – and it set two cities apart. One was well off, the other was bad off. Me and the rest of the guys grew up in the bad part."
"That's so horrible… You were just kids!" Nico quickly called in as the man just chuckled.
"Yeah, you're right, but no one really cared about it…"
"How did you survive then?" West seemed hesitant to ask.
"We managed – all of us living there. But c'mon, let's not talk about that stuff. Yusei, Jack and Crow – they changed the whole place. It's much better now," Kyosuke ruffled the boy's hair and went on before either could speak up. He didn't want to talk about his solo time in Satellite and all the stuff he's done.
"I was actually just looking for supplies when I came across those three idiots. And they were doing the same as me. We were all around fourteen to seventeen at that point… As it turns out, the woman working the orphanage had too many kids to take care of to handle search and retrieval tasks, so they volunteered," the former Dark Signer smiled at the memory. He could still clearly see Jack giving him a suspicious glare, Crow covered in trash and mud and other things, and Yusei carrying all manner of items. It didn't take much for them to take the new guy to their home – Martha taught them to help anyone they could.
"And you all became friends, right?" the kids were grinning and Kiryu snorted, before giving a quick apology.
"Haha, no, not even close!" at their confused looks, he couldn't help but laugh some more.
"Everyone was suspicious about me. Not to mention it seemed like I was another mouth to feed and no one really wanted that. So Jack, who was by this point 16 and one year younger than me, tells me I need to pull my own weight. He won't let some moocher into his Kingdome," although the kids were a bit confused, the fond smile on the man's lips made them both ignore that and smile back.
"I explained that I was just looking for a quick spot to find a few items, maybe some fresh water. Martha was more than understanding, so she sent me off with Yusei and Crow to find food. If I got my share, she'd give me some water."
"Is that fair?" the children might not realize how hard it was for a teenager to get fresh, non-polluted water, but it was a fair trade.
"Shh! Don't interrupt him!"
"Sorry…"
"It's fine. You actually remind me of a few other kids that were there…" for a few seconds, they shared a quick look before Kyosuke continued. "After the three of us got back, with Jack clearly waiting to take my head off, I got what I needed and was ready to head off on my own again."
"And did you?" this time, Nico interrupted, ignoring her brother's look.
"I did, yeah. But not alone," the grin shocked them for a moment, before they got it. "Turns out, Yusei had been thinking about moving out as well. To put off some work from Martha and lessen the kids to feed. Jack wasn't far behind and where they go, Crow usually follows. And so it turned out, they all left with me," Kiryu recalled that they had claimed he seemed to know Satellite very well and would love to see some more of it. Jack, naturally, complained a lot as they constantly moved around, and Yusei kept working on his projects. He and Crow did most of the scavenging and it was because of that they eventually found their new home.
"Were there any girls around?" the sister asked, catching the man off guard.
"Huh?" was all the duelist could manage as he blinked at her.
"Well, teenage boys usually like girls, right? Father used to say they were 'high school sweethearts' and all that. Did you have any?" Kyosuke suddenly turned red and kept opening his mouth like a fish out of water. He couldn't deny that, yes; he had feelings for Yusei when they were a team. And as it turned out, Yusei felt the same – apparently even after he went insane with power. But after his death… he wasn't sure anymore – something was between him and that Aki girl, but he couldn't really call it love. He could never be sure about Crow and Jack honestly – he figured each one had a preference and no matter what, it was their thing. Love can be weird like that.
"How about we move inside, eh? It's getting a bit cold…" the duelist grumbled in the end, looking away from the kids.
"So, what happened then?" Nico asked, sitting on the bed, wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot coco in her hands.
"Yeah, yeah! After you all found a place?" West was grinning, on his own bed with a blanket over his head and the mug on his lap.
"Well, after that, we started making it a livable place," Kiryu sat on a chair between the beds, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "The house we found had a roof and four standing walls – that was something rare in Satellite those days. We managed to settle down the tasks for each one and what needed to be done," Kyosuke himself went out for food and supplies, Crow would usually keep lookout during the day – his eyes were the best out of all of them – Yusei worked on some old Duel Disks they found and Jack decorated the place. Some rocks had to be moved out, but between the four of them, that didn't take long. For beds they found one mattress and decided to use it for anyone who was sick or really injured. Otherwise they scavenged some torn blankets or large clothes and settled them into piles to soften up the hard ground.
"But didn't you say it wasn't safe? And wouldn't someone follow you back if you lived like that…?" boy mumbled, looking at the mug.
"It wasn't and that happened. That's why we all learned to fight, especially with our decks," at that, they both looked up at him. "Dueling was the only thing we all had left. Almost everyone had a deck and a Duel Disk. But only the best got to keep it," back then, the local gang bullied others out of their cards and other items. It was due to that, that the four started dueling so fiercely – it was a way to not only gain freedom and respect, but favors and supplies as well.
"We mostly minded our own business, but then Crow just up and adopted a bunch of kids," Kiryu was smiling as he shook his head. "We weren't really an orphanage or anything, but we took in the kids, gave them the bit of room we could and grabbed a bit extra food all around. It wasn't that bad really…" the way he trailed off set the kids uneasy.
"And then the local gang started picking on those kids… Safe to say, none of us were satisfied," the darkening look made the children swallow and pull the blankest closer to themselves.
"We would beat them every time, not always even getting anything out of it, but they wouldn't let up… So, we all agreed on one thing – we take this sector from them and make it our own. It was the only way to make sure the kids would be safe," the siblings smiled at that, almost beaming at him, but Kiryu's eyes had a sadness to them they didn't understand.
They all stayed up very late, learning and helping each other with their decks and skills. He himself picked it up fastest, so he was able to help the other three. Surprisingly, Crow got the hang of it before Jack or Yusei, who mastered it about the same time and got better than their bird-named-friend. Soon after, they challenged the raining gang and won.
"What did you do then? After you beat them?" Nico adjusted on the bed.
"I – we saw that, although we've freed one section, there were plenty more, having the same problems," Kiryu let out a small sigh. "We decided that the only way to truly keep the kids and others safe was to take down every last gang."
"So cool! You were like a team of heroes or something!" West smiled brightly.
"Heh, yeah, something like that," Kyosuke actually grinned at that. Seeing the kid so happy warmed his heart. "We actually came up with a name, later one. Team Satisfaction."
"Why that name?" the kids looked boggled, but the man just laughed.
"Because, we were searching for someone to satisfy our thirst for battle. After we freed some more sectors, we started to enjoy the dueling, like it was supposed to. And then we wanted to clear the whole Satellite of the gangs, so we went on. Not just for the others anymore, but ourselves as well."
"Oh, so like – dueling enforcers or something?" the kids laughed and Kiryu lightly shook his head, trying to cover up the grin.
"You could call it that, yeah…" he remembered how everyone agreed that, yes; they should clear other areas out. How back then, they all had such good intentions… "We were doing good, helping the helpless, protecting the weak… We were seen as heroes," his voice was softer than before as the memories spun around him.
"What happened then?"
"Then, we won. We beat every single duel gang there was. We freed our home," he sounded so proud, yet there was a hidden sadness in his words. "And then…" he paused, closing his eyes and taking a shaky breath. "Then Sector Security came…"
"Security? But, aren't they the good guys?"
"Not to us they weren't… They saw everyone there as a blight on life, us especially. And we were doing their job for them!" his almost hissed, eyes blazing. "They hunted us down, captured us and sent us off to the facility…"
"But, you're all here now?" the kids were clearly lost now.
"Yeah… It's because of them that… that we drifted apart…" his eyes were downcast, guilt, sadness and loss evident in them. "And it's all my fault…" he whispered, preventing the kids from understanding what he said.
"Did the police get any of you?" he winced at that, recalling how many times Crow got caught and was marked for pointless things. It made his blood boil.
"Well, there was more of them than us and we…" he wanted to say they – Yusei, Crow and Jack because he sure as hell didn't - were the ones who saw. "We saw that we couldn't win against them… So we went our separate ways…"
"But why would you think you weren't friends anymore?"
"Because I… said and did things. I didn't want to give up just yet…" he hated how he lied to them. That this was just the tip of what he actually did… "I wasn't sure if we left as brothers," he admitted, letting out a small sigh.
"Well, they clearly see you as a brother now! They came for you when you needed them. That's proof enough they still care," Nico smiled from her bed and he was at a loss for words for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" he smiled fully and truly for the first time in a long time. "Thank you," he added, stood up and kissed both of their foreheads. "Now get some sleep."
"Alright! But tell us more stories next time?" West snuggled into his blanket.
"Maybe," he winked, turned off the lights and left.
A few minutes later, Kiryu found himself in his room, sitting at a desk and staring down a piece of paper with a pen on the side. He wasn't sure this was the best idea, but he had to let them know. He had to. So he skimmed the letter one last time…
Yusei, Jack and Crow…
It's been a long time since we've seen each other as… friends. At least I hope we're still friends. I just… wanted to let you all know that, I'll be eternally grateful for everything you've done for me. Not just here in this town, but in my whole life. Without you, I'd probably still be scavenging remains on Satellite or be a Dark Signer. You've changed my life, for better or worse, and I just want you all to know I'll never forget it.
I know this letter won't change much about what happened… about what I did. But I hope it's at least something. Something to show I never forgot what we had, what we endured and what we accomplished.
Your brother, Kiryu Kyosuke