Title: Secrets of Touch
Characters: Ryou, Yuusuke||Ship: Ryou x Yuusuke/Yuusuke x Ryou
Word Count: 1,000||Chapters: 1/1
Challenges: Diversity Writing Challenge, B33, write a 'ship that's not your OTP; One Ship Boot Camp, #7, request
Summary: A hot summer's day full of light is exactly what Fujiwara Yuusuke enjoys after five years in Darkness's world. And then along comes a little piece of darkness he could get used to: Hell Kaiser Marufuji Ryou.

Yuusuke wasn't used to touching people anymore. He'd gone nearly five years without even seeing another person and the idea of warm human flesh against his own was something that he had to get used to all over again.

Fubuki hadn't fully realized that yet and kept dropping on him when Yuusuke didn't expect it. Which wasn't bad, it certainly helped him get used to the feeling of flesh on him.

But some days were better than others, and Yuusuke praised the day when Fubuki was spending his time with Asuka, and he could go somewhere without having to worry about Fubuki falling from the ceiling or an overhanging tree branch.

He settled himself on a bench in a park he didn't know the name of, letting himself rest. The sun touched warmly against his back and shoulders and he drank the warmth and the light both in, eyes closed so he could enjoy it all the more.

"Master," Honest murmured in his ear, "someone is coming. I think it's Marufuji-san."

Yuusuke opened his eyes at once. He'd seen Ryou a few times since his return but they'd never had a chance to sit down and talk.

And oh, did they need to. The right time just hadn't turned up yet.

Perhaps this would be it.

Indeed, it was Ryou, but it didn't look as if he'd even realized that Yuusuke was there, let alone that the park was there. He walked along, apparently comfortable in the heat even with his black leather - and Yuusuke considered letting him go on by.

But he couldn't do it. He'd gone too long without talking to someone who he could trust not to touch him without permission first.

"Ryou?"

He knew most people never used Ryou's given name. Fubuki did on occasion, as did Asuka, and – of all people – Edo Phoenix. Given what he'd heard about how Edo and Ryou first met, he could not help but be surprised that Edo had permission for that.

Or maybe he didn't and Ryou just didn't care enough to correct him.

Either way, Ryou stopped and glanced toward him, a bit dismissive at first, until he saw who'd called for him. Then he headed over with a slightly more brisk step than before.

"Yuusuke," he murmured, having long had permission to use Yuusuke's own give name. It sounded fair on his lips as well, a sound that Yuusuke hadn't heard in far too long.

Really, doing anything at all with Ryou was something that he hadn't done in too long. They hadn't even had a duel since Yuusuke returned, and he wanted to test their skills against one another.

They hadn't dueled when he'd come as Darkness's Messenger. They hadn't needed to.

Ryou crossed into the park, the faintest tinge of a smile on his lips.

"I didn't expect to find you here," he said. "I thought you were still staying at Duel Academia."

"I'll probably go back there later," Yuusuke admitted. "But I wanted to stretch out a little." They were in between school years at the moment, but for those few people who stayed at the school year round – and there were not many of them – the boat was always available.

Ryou nodded, settling down on the bench as Yuusuke returned to where he'd been sitting. "How have you been?"

"Well enough," Yuusuke said with a faint shrug of his shoulders. "Days like this make it better." He cast a glance up to the clear blue sky then back to Ryou, a question stirred by what he'd seen before. "Aren't you hot in that?"

Ryou glanced down at his own black leather outfit and then back up to Yuusuke. "I hadn't thought about it. I'm used to it."

"You could take the jacket off?" Yuusuke suggested. He didn't want Ryou getting overheated and passing out. Surely he'd gone through worse things in his life, but Yuusuke found he didn't care. He did care about Ryou and his health.

Though in fair truth, he didn't think that Ryou would do it. Hell Kaiser was never without his jacket, after all.

But after a moment or two of consideration, Ryou wriggled himself out of the jacket and set it on the back of the bench. Underneath he wore a somewhat lighter shirt that looked much more comfortable in Yuusuke's opinion.

He looked much less forbidding like that as well. Yuusuke hadn't ever been scared of him – why would he be? - but people could probably pass him in the streets and not feel an urge to step to the other side of the road.

"There's a vendor over there who has cold drinks," Yuusuke offered after a few quiet minutes. "Would you like one?" He paused to frame the next part carefully. "My treat."

"Thank you." Ryou's smile was a gentle thing, so rare even in the days when they'd known each other better, and it struck Yuusuke in the deepest parts of his heart.

Ryou's presence was unmistakable, even without his jacket and without words. The two of them walked over to the vendor and not for a moment did Yuusuke forget that he was there. Forgetting wasn't quite the problem it had been before, but there were still times that someone who didn't speak would slip out of his mind. That didn't happen with Ryou. Ryou was just there, a darkness that he didn't fear, that he thought he could learn to treasure.

They didn't touch. He'd almost expected it to happen at some point, some moment when they weren't fully paying attention to where their hands went. But it didn't happen. Yuusuke couldn't yet make up his mind on if he were disappointed by that or not. He didn't think he should be. Touch was still a strange thing to him, even as he became more familiar with it.

Touch would come another day, he made up his mind. It would give him – perhaps both of them – something to look forward to.

The End

Notes: They might not be my full on OTP (Yubel/Juudai) but I do love this 'ship so very much.