Your Song Saved My Life
Author's Note: This story was inspired by, and contains, the song "This Song Saved My Life" by the band Simple Plan. Some of the lyrics have been changed slightly in order for the song to make sense. I do not own the song, the band, the characters, or anything else. Each thing belongs to its respective owners.
When Ryoga Kasmishiro (known to most people as Shark) walked into the small club, his guitar in its case on his back, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of nervousness flutter in his stomach. He was about to do something he never thought he would ever do in his entire life; He was going to express his emotions for a certain person to their face, in a song no less! Swallowing, Ryoga made his way over to the club's manager, who waved him over to the stage after they exchanged a few words. Ryoga thanked the man and made his way to the stool resting on said stage, along with a microphone stand. Sitting down, Ryoga pulled out his guitar and began to tune it, scanning the few customers within the club. He gave a small start when he noticed the three Arclight brothers were there. Catching Thomas', more commonly known as IV, eye, Ryoga quickly looked back down at his instrument. Thankfully the middle brother did not come over to the stage, or acknowledge Ryoga in anyway other than with a curt nod in his direction. Groaning silently to himself, Ryoga cursed his luck; Of all the places the Arclight brothers could have gone together they had to come to this specific club, and they had to come to it today. Sighing, Ryoga finished tuning his guitar and waited.
Earlier in the week, Ryoga had asked Yuma Tsukumo to meet him at the club. He refused to say why though, stating only that he had something to show the young duelist. Yuma pestered him for an explanation (which of course Ryoga didn't give him), but eventually agreed, smiling that stupid smile of his. Ryoga smirked silently to himself as he thought of the red-and-black haired duelist, remembering all the ridiculous stunts Yuma had dragged him into in the past. He was quickly awakened from his thoughts, however, when the club door opened and the group he had been waiting for walked in. Yuma, with the ever-present Astral floating beside him, quickly made his way to one of the club's tables were he took a seat. Yuma was followed by his friends, Kotori, Tetsuo, Takashi, Tokunosuke, and Cathy; Truthfully Ryoga had only wanted Yuma to come, but he knew the younger duelist would never exclude his friends if he could avoid it. Ryoga was surprised however, to see his twin sister Rio, along with the Tenjo brothers Kaito and Haruto, among Yuma's gang. He didn't know this, but Haruto had been wanting to visit with Yuma for a while now. Kaito finally agreed to take him to meet up with the older boy after he got out of school that day. Not wanting to disappoint the young child, Yuma had cheerfully asked if the brothers wanted to join his friends and him as they went to meet up with Ryoga at the club. Rio happened to be walking past when he said this and politely asked if she could come along too. Yuma answered with his famous smile and cheerfully stated that of course she could!
Ryoga caught the manager's eye, who nodded and began to make his way to the stage. Meanwhile, Yuma and Michael, better known as III, had noticed one another and immediately rushed over to greet each other. Thus the three Arclight brothers ended up joining the already decent sized group sitting at Yuma's table. "May I have everyone's attention please?" the club manager asked, having gotten on the stage, speaking into the microphone. The club became quiet, everyone looking at the stage waiting to see what the man wanted. "Thank you. Today we have a special performance. Please welcome Ryoga Kamishiro, who will be playing the debut of his newest song." With that, the manager stepped off the stage, allowing Ryoga to get up, guitar in hand, and make his way over to the microphone. Ryoga took a deep breath before speaking. "Before I begin, I would like to say a few words. This song I wrote was inspired by, and is dedicated to, the stupidest person I know. He's clumsy, far too trusting, oblivious, short-tempered, and is the most foolish person in all of Heartland City. But," Ryoga paused for a moment before continuing, "This person is also the kindest, friendliest, and most loyal person I've ever met and is probably the most forgiving person in the whole world. No matter what wrongs are committed against him, he always smiles and turns the other cheek. He constantly offers his friendship to everyone around him, even to those who do not deserve it and to those who, by all definitions and reasons, should be his enemies. Even when the rest of the world has turned its back on a particular individual, calling them a lost cause he's right there, believing in them and offering them hope." Ryoga looked directly at Yuma, making eye contact with his fellow duelist. "This song was inspired by and is dedicated to Yuma Tsukumo." Dropping Yuma's gaze, Ryoga started to play and after a few moments, opened his mouth to sing.
"I wanna start by letting you know this; Because of you my life has a purpose. You helped me be who I am today. I see myself in every word you say. Sometimes it feels like nobody gets me." Everyone at school had been afraid of him, had viewed him only as a bully and a cheater. "Trapped in a world where everyone hates me. There's so much that I'm going through." Rio had been in critical condition back then and Ryoga had had to face the possibility that she might never wake up. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Ryoga had never consciously considered suicide, but he did admit to himself that one of the reasons he got himself into bad situations over and over, why he always crossed the wrong sort of people and always made the wrong sort of choices, was because deep down, a part of him hoped he wouldn't get out of his latest mess alive. An unconscious desire to die, but a desire none the less. "I was broken! I was choking! I was lost; Your song saved my life! I was bleeding, stopped believing! Could have died; Your song saved my life! I was down! I was drowning! But you appeared just in time! Your song saved my life!" Yuma was the only one who had bothered to reach out to him. The only one who tried to help him. Yuma, he called Ryoga his friend and all the other boy had ever done to him was break his most treasured possession after he had humiliated one of the younger boy's friends! Ryoga couldn't understand it back then; How, how could Yuma feel anything other than hatred for him?! Why, why, why, why was the amateur duelist trying so hard to reach him; What could he ever possibly hope to achieve?! Now, Ryoga knew the answer to those questions. Yuma did what he did because he believed that everyone had good in them, even when the person themselves couldn't see it.
"Sometimes I feel like you've known me forever. You always know how to make me feel better." Yuma never failed to cheer Ryoga up, even if Ryoga didn't show it. "Because of you the world and me are so much closer than we used to be." Thanks to Yuma, Ryoga was kinder, more open, and for once in his life, he actually had…friends. "You're my escape when I'm stuck in this dumb town. I think of you whenever I feel down. You let me know like no one else, that it's okay to be myself." Ryoga remembered when Yuma had defended him when pair of duelists were mocking him for being disqualified from a past tournament. Yuma all but shouted at them, saying that there was nothing wrong with being scared and making mistakes, so long as you learned from them and didn't let them hold you back. Ryoga had been absolutely stunned when he heard the younger boy's words. Yuma…didn't condemn him like everyone else did for that one past mistake. Yuma…was honestly giving Ryoga a chance to show him what kind of duelist he was, before he passed judgment on the older boy. Ryoga honestly hadn't known what to think at that moment.
"I was broken! I was choking! I was lost; Your song saved my life! I was bleeding, stopped believing! Could have died; Your song saved my life! I was down! I was drowning! But you appeared just in time! Your song saved my life! You'll never know what it means to me, that I'm not alone; That I'll never have to be!" There was no way Yuma would ever truly understand just how much his friendship meant to him. How much it means to him. Yuma, Ryoga was convinced, was an honest-to-God heaven-sent angel, whose purpose on Earth was to rescue lost souls such as himself. Ryoga fervently hoped that, through the song he was singing, Yuma would realize how grateful and thankful Ryoga was that they had met. Ryoga was spilling his soul for all to see, and he desperately prayed that Yuma would receive and understand the song's message loud and clear. "I was broken! I was choking! I was lost; Your song saved my life! I was bleeding, stopped believing! Could have died; Your song saved my life! I was down! I was drowning! But you appeared just in time! Your song saved my life! My life, my life! Your song saved my life! My life, my life! Your song saved my life! My life, my life! Your song saved my life! My life, my life! Your song saved…my life."
Ryoga finished his song and looked out into the crowd. Kotori, Rio, Cathy, and Michael were all crying and comforting one another. Tetsuo, Takashi, Tokunosuke, and Thomas were simply stunned, their faces clearly showing so. Christopher, better known as V, wore his normal, unexpressive face, save for the fact that both his eyebrows were arched as high as they could go, betraying the fact that their owner was surprised. Haruto was busy crying and burying his face into his big brother's shirt, while Kaito looked both surprised and confused as he awkwardly tried to comfort his little brother; The song had been about a change for the better so he really didn't understand why his brother and the girls and the youngest of the Arclights were bawling their eyes out. Astral….was simply Astral. Yuma's face, however, was completely unreadable. As he stepped off the stage and approached the group, Ryoga had to fight back the panic quickly rising within him. Why wasn't Yuma saying anything, why wasn't he doing anything?! But once Ryoga got within a yard of Yuma's position he stopped, stunned. Yuma's face remained completely expressionless, but silent tears were cascading down his face. The two boys looked at each other, unmoving, for a moment before Yuma closed the distance between them and wordlessly threw his arms around Ryoga in a tight hug. And Ryoga, without missing a beat, closed his eyes, smiled, and returned the embrace.