Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or situations involved in this fanfic, and am not making any profit whatsoever off of it.
Story Title: Mistake
Characters: Marufuji Ryou, Tenjoin Fubuki, Fujiwara Yuusuke
Romance: Ryou x Fujiwara
Story Word Count: 2,823
LJ Challenge: This was written for the gx_100 Livejournal challenge, prompt 25, 'a falter'.
Timeline: This takes place part of the way into their first year, perhaps a month or so before Fujiwara summons Darkness and vanishes.
Summary: One of the greatest mistakes the Kaiser ever made was not something he did…but something he didn't say.
Of all of the conversations that Marufuji Ryou had ever expected to have in his lifetime, the one that he was having was not on the list. Granted, he had known Fubuki for over two years by the time that they had entered Duel Academia, and he knew quite well how obsessed the other teenager was with the ideals of love and romance. It was impossible to be in Fubuki's presence for more than five minutes and not know that.
"Ask him out. And not to do homework, either. You two do enough of that." Fubuki all but stared at him. In fact, Ryou was quite certain that he was being stared at. Not many had that kind of nerve. Even at fifteen, he had perfected the art of being standoff-ish. Fubuki, of course, never stood off from anyone.
"No." Ryou was firm on the subject. As much as it was appealing to imagine walking with a certain mutual friend of theirs, possibly by the ocean or in the deeper, quieter woods behind the school buildings, he was not going to do it. He simply had too much to do with his life to waste time with romance.
Master Samejima wanted him to inherit the Cyber dojo one day. That meant a lot of work, study, and practice. Of course, he could ask Fujiwara if he wanted to duel. That would be interesting.
"You're thinking about doing something with him." Fubuki was probably the only person who could read him well enough to pick up his thoughts like that. In a way, that bothered him. Ryou liked to keep his thoughts to himself.
He shook his head a little. "What does it matter if I am?" Ryou also knew better than to try to lie to Fubuki. Especially when it wasn't going to do anything. He was not going to give in.
The brunet leaned in and grinned at him mischievously. "Because if you think about it too long, one of two things will happen."
Ryou raised one eyebrow just the slightest bit. Fubuki had the oddest way of making sense sometimes. Especially when you least expected him to: or least wanted him to.
"You'll either talk yourself into it, or out of it." Fubuki waved a finger at Ryou as if he were a father hoping to correct a wayward son. Ryou snorted to himself. The thought of Fubuki as a father was rather terrifying in some aspects.
"I can't do either. I can't talk myself into it because I'm not going to do it at all, and I can't talk myself out of it, because I'm not going to do it at all." His mind was made up, resolute. He had never been this firm on anything, save for choosing the path of the duelist of respect. He'd give up that before he backed down from this decision.
Fubuki shook his head a little more, grinning as he did so. "You really believe that, don't you?"
"Why shouldn't I? I know my own mind." As much as Fubuki could and did read him so very well, there were still times when he missed things. Probably because he wanted to, or because there were times when Ryou was convinced that Fubuki and reality were at best nodding acquaintances. If that.
"You only think that you do." Fubuki corrected him, or sounded as if that were what he was trying to do. "There's a lot that you don't know about yourself. And you're passing up a good chance to find out something right now."
Ryou closed his eyes for a moment. Fubuki could be very tiring. That was a part of his charm, or a part of why there were people who wanted to strangle him. Ryou himself frequently was one of the latter, and had yet to figure out why he hadn't done it yet. Perhaps the charm had something to do with it.
"You know I'm right." Fubuki had just a trace of smugness in his tone. If he had thought that it would do any good, Ryou might have challenged him to a duel just then, hopefully to get rid of that smugness. Unfortunately, he knew quite well that win or lose, Fubuki just kept on smiling.
Really, Ryou wouldn't have had it any other way. When he let himself think about it, he knew if it weren't for Fubuki's constant smiles and endless stream of chatter, he wouldn't have quite noticed someone who was almost literally Fubuki's exact opposite. Quiet and gentle, so silent that he frequently faded into the background.
Though Ryou himself never forgot that he was there. How could he? Like it or not, those light violet eyes and occasionally quiet, almost sly smile had woven their way into his heart. They also showed no sign of ever leaving it. Ryou could not say that he was disappointed by that fact.
He made a habit of sitting near Fujiwara whenever he could. This was never unusual; the three of them usually tended to sit near one another at all times anyway. But when he could, Ryou contrived to have Fubuki on one side or the other, not between them. This wasn't always successful, but it was enough. Perhaps it was that which had alerted Fubuki to his slightly softer feelings.
Or perhaps Fubuki hadn't had any idea and was just trying to matchmaker. It wouldn't be the first time, nor would it be the last. Ryou had heard that Fubuki had a younger sister, the same age as his own brother Shou. He could only imagine the chaos once she began to attend the Academia.
"You know, if you need any help for anything, I've got some DVDs and a player," Fubuki suggested. Ryou stared, then sighed, burying his face in one hand for a moment. He had not just heard that.
"I highly that that will be anything that I will ever need." Ryou spoke from between slightly clenched teeth. Fubuki leaned back on the bed and grinned in the most insufferably smug fashion yet.
"I didn't say what kind of DVDs they were. So what's really on your mind, then?"
There were not many who could catch Ryou off guard. Fubuki was the only one that he currently knew about. And Ryou was very glad that the list was just that short. For now, he simply grit his teeth a little harder.
"What's on my mind is going to find Fujiwara." He paused just for a moment, watching for Fubuki's reaction. Funny. He hadn't really thought that that grin could get any more smug. He'd been wrong. "And then we are going to finish our homework, have lunch, and see if there's anyone around who might be worth dueling."
Fubuki virtually pouted, and Ryou could feel a smirk forming on his own lips. He wasn't certain if he'd mention this to Fujiwara at all, really. He would have to phrase it carefully if he did, so that he wouldn't give away anything that he chose not to. They would likely enough get a good laugh over it if he phrased it correctly.
To think of the two of them dating…no, it wasn't to be thought of at all. He doubted that Fujiwara had ever even considered dating, much less dating another boy. The thought had crossed his mind long before he'd ever met Fubuki. He had simply never given dating girls a thought. There was no one in particular that he'd ever wanted, but it was a simple awareness that had grown over the years. Girls were all right. Several of them were fine, honorable duelists. But for spending more than casual time with…no.
Ryou didn't bother to wait to see if Fubuki were going to keep him company or not. He probably wouldn't, once no one was there to see him do it. If it couldn't be done with an audience, then it likely wasn't worth doing, in Fubuki's opinion. Talking to Ryou about his emotions towards Fujiwara was a rare exception, and most likely only because he wanted to see what would happen if Ryou did ask the other out.
It only took a moment or two for him to gather his books. It took a few moments longer to get his deck together, as he'd been perusing it before Fubuki had pushed his way into the room and started to try his best to arrange and rearrange Ryou's love life, or lack thereof, depending on which way someone wanted to view it.
Finding Fujiwara took even less time than that. It was easy, since the other spent most of his time in the library when the three of them weren't together. Ryou had seen some of the books that Fujiwara had used, and really thought little of them. Alchemy, magic. He wasn't certain if any of that were real, or if it was just something Daitoukuki-sensei babbled about for an hour and a half a day in order to get a paycheck.
He was certain that Fujiwara believed, and Fubuki would do anything that got him attention, even go to special classes about the old games of darkness. Ryou preferred his own strength and could seldom dig up an interest in the past.
Though, maybe, if it could mean spending more time around Fujiwara…
No. He reminded himself fiercely that it was not to be. For one thing, both of them were only fifteen. He personally thought that dating should wait until after high school was done. It would give him more time for homework, among other factors.
He glanced around the library, and could not help a small smile at the sight of Fujiwara, bent over a book. The green-haired boy didn't look up, but just kept on reading, and on occasion taking notes. But Ryou had not so much as made a move towards him when Fujiwara said softly, "I'm almost done, Marufuji-kun."
That was most certainly not the first time that something like that had happened. It was, for some reason Ryou did not know, almost impossible to surprise Fujiwara. It was as if he had a second pair of eyes at times.
"Will you be ready for lunch soon?" For all that he'd mentioned finishing his homework, he'd really already done it. It was nothing but an excuse to spend time around Fujiwara, and he knew it quite well.
The three of them ate together more than they didn't, but once in a while, it would be just two out of the three. Today, Ryou wanted to just be with Fujiwara. It had nothing to do with what Fubuki had said. He simply found his other friend to be soothing, and he needed a good strong dose of that right now.
Light violet eyes looked up at him and he smiled briefly at the look. Only Fubuki and Fujiwara could make him smile like that.
"Yes. Will Fubuki be there?" Ryou was not certain what to make of the question, though it was simple and logical enough. All he did was shake his head a bit. Fujiwara nodded slightly. "Just let me finish this, then."
Ryou had no problem with waiting and chose a bookshelf at random to explore while he did so. It appeared to be the one that Fujiwara had taken some of his current objects of study from, or at least someone had. The shelf appeared to be dedicated to research works about the games of darkness and rituals to call forth the shadows. Ryou curled his lip; this couldn't be what Fujiwara was studying. No one with any sense would bother with the darkness, if it were even for real.
He looked back at Fujiwara and thought that he caught a glimpse of the other turning away. It was hard to be certain. What if I did ask him out? To more than lunch? The thought was pleasant, really. He wanted to think about it more, and yet he didn't. He'd already made up his mind that he wouldn't. The reasons he didn't were all good and right and true, yet there was that small voice, just a whisper of a thought, to take a chance. To say those simple words and see what would happen.
"Fujiwara." The name was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He clenched his teeth and hoped that whatever insanity was in his mind, obviously engendered by Fubuki, it would stay there, where it could do no harm.
"Yes?" There was a hint of something in that reply; perhaps a touch of tightness. Ryou racked his brain for something coherent, since nothing else seemed to want to come. He glanced again at the empty spaces on the shelves, and perhaps that inspired him.
"What are you studying?" He perhaps could have went to look, but peering over someone's shoulder was just not his style. Especially not Fujiwara's.
"It's…personal." Fujiwara glanced up quickly, then back down towards his books. It was hard to see from where he was, but Ryou thought there was some kind of high color on the other's cheeks. Fujiwara didn't give him a chance to see anything for certain, though, as he closed up his books at last and got up, presumably to return them to their proper shelves. Ryou headed back towards the door, not watching in favor of getting himself under a firm control.
He seldom hesitated. It was not in his nature. But this one time, he chose to turn away. If he had known all that was to come after, perhaps he might have chosen differently. But humans do not know their future, for the most part. So he waited, his attention now casually scanning the hallway to see if any potential candidates for duels happened to be passing by, and did not look back until he heard the soft footsteps of his friend coming closer, the books all returned to where they belonged.
"What did you want to eat?" As elite Obelisks, they could do as they pleased for lunch, so long as it didn't involve actually leaving the island. The normal cafeteria food in their dorm was excellent, of course, but sometimes one or any of them had a taste for something different.
Fujiwara shrugged. "I'm not very particular today." There was yet another odd note in his voice, but Ryou tried hard not to notice it. He was likely enough just disturbed by Ryou asking about his studies. If it were that personal, he wasn't surprised by the reaction. Fujiwara tended to be quite a private person, after all.
At any rate, they needed to get something to eat before anything else. He considered, then an idea struck him. "Let's go to Tome-san's." It would be pleasant, quiet, and Fubuki would hopefully not find them any time soon.
"All right." The two of them headed out of the library, both as quiet as they tended to be. They did not get very far, however, before they had to stop.
"I've heard you're good!" The dark-haired boy was an Obelisk, just as they were. Ryou couldn't remember his name offhand, though he thought he recognized him from witnessing other duels.
I believe he plays a tennis-themed deck. This should be interesting. "Did you want a duel?"
The other nodded briskly, scarcely seeming to notice that Fujiwara was there in the first place. Ryou didn't quite approve of that, but the sooner that he put this person away, the sooner they could return to having their lunch together. And, he'd been rather interested in dueling this Ayanokouji anyway. Some of his strategies were fascinating, and Ryou looked forward to dealing with them head-on.
He glanced over at Fujiwara, who was looking away, trying to give them some modicum of privacy. "This won't take long." The other nodded, and that was all it took for everything else to fade out of Ryou's mind, leaving room only for the duel.
In the end, the duel came to a tie, something that had not happened to Ryou all that often. Fujiwara stayed there the whole time, waiting patiently, but Ryou's mind was now taken up more with thinking of the duel that had just happened than anything else. It hadn't been quite as entertaining as some of his duels with Fubuki or Fujiwara, but it had had its own enjoyment to it.
"R…Marufuji-kun?" Fujiwara's voice was so soft that Ryou almost didn't hear it. He did, however, miss the tiny falter at the beginning. "I just remembered, I have to talk to Daitoukuji-sensei about something. Perhaps we can have lunch later?"
Ryou nodded a bit absently. He wanted to find a way around Ayanokouji's tennis strategy, and he could think about that better in private anyway. "Of course." He waved briefly as Fujiwara slipped away, all but vanishing into the shadows as he did, and went on his way, alone.
The End