DISCLAIMER: I do not own No Game No Life, it belongs to Yu Kamiya and his collaborators. This is simply a tribute to the upcoming movie which is situated in Volume 6 in the Light Novel. Unless you want to be spoiled, please do not read until you have watched the movie and/or read the Novel.
Riku flinched as he saw the bright and glorious light above him. His senses filtered in extravagant songs and melodies echoing through the golden clouds that surrounded him. He examined his body and strangely, he was healed from any burn or injury he had suffered. Speaking of injury, the bandages that wrapped around his body were gone, now replaced with pearl colored clothing, a color rarely seen in the war.
He floated in the deep recess of space, signified by the brightly lit stars that were far so distant from him. He didn't dare to move, afraid that this was all an impossible dream. A dream where his worries were eased permanently. Gone were the thoughts of the surprising draw, of the war, of the millions of deaths Imanity and the world had suffered.
But this didn't cure of him of the memory of his last loss.
"Shuvi..." He sat up, or what looks like it whilst he floated. He didn't admire the majestic view of space, nor the soothing songs of unknown entities at that moment of time. All he cared about was his wife, Shuvi; his Ex Machina. Desperate, he surveyed his surroundings with what little hope he was left with.
"Shuvi?" He called out into the vastness, but no one answered him. He clearly knew that he was dead, and he could care less with being dead; but if he was sent here because he is dead, then Shuvi; his lovely and over-calculative wife should be here.
But she wasn't.
He straightened his body so that he looked like he was standing.
'Maybe she was not here because she was just a disposable tool?' His conscience taunted him while his worry infested him. He would never accept that, not a single bit.
"Shuvi!" He screamed out her name yet again, desperate for any kind of response. His gaze moved to the bright light above him and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I already died a married virgin! At least give me the chance to see my wife you ungrateful bastard!" His rage was top-notch, but was not necessarily directed to anybody but to the one that threw him there.
And just like that, someone responded to him.
"You know no one's going to answer, right?" A calm childlike voice announced its presence behind him. Riku paused and looked at the kid behind him, its voice familiar in all levels of degree. His anger quickly deflated as he saw the kid.
"I've never had guessed" The kid with the large beret laughed.
"Yes, it's me; that kid that defeated you every single time in chess" The kid joked as he approached the healed Riku with a smile. Riku only stared at the kid with a passive face, his only intention for the moment was to see his deceased wife.
"I bet you were cheating. I never won anything because of you" He stated as a matter-of-fact. Tet again chuckled at this and tapped Riku's forehead playfully. "Is it my fault now?" The virgin twenty year old rubbed his forehead while he took a step back. "Of course..."
"Then to cheer you up, how would a simple coin flip fare?" Tet mischievously smirked as a coin materialized on his palm, the coin was conveniently marked with a King and a Pawn chess piece on each side. Riku stared at the coin for a moment, a faint idea of what was about to occur crossed his mind. "Sure..."
"Great! Now to the bets!" Tet cheerfully spoke up. "Bets?" Riku asked in confusion. "Of course, bets; it wouldn't be a good game if it doesn't have any rewards right?"
Riku stared at Tet, as if examining him before reluctantly saying his wager. "If I win, I get to see Shuvi" He stated in a serious tone. "That's it?" He nodded, he didn't want anything else other than his wife.
"Ok… So, if I win; I will truly be the One True God over the world where you used to live in..." Tet paused for a moment to stare at Riku in the eyes, his mischievous smirk becoming more apparent. "-And you will decide on which rules this world will work in"
Riku was quite surprised at the bet, but if it meant to see Shuvi again; he would do anything. "I choose the King side of the coin!" Tet shouted enthusiastically. "So I guess, I get the pawn?" Tet nodded in response.
"Any problem with that?"
"No, I'm content" Riku neutrally replied, his voice holding no emotion.
"Let's get started then, shall we swear?" Riku gave a silent nod before they announced:
[Aschente!]
"We will start in 3" Tet started as he held the coin in his right hand.
"2"
"1" And up the coin goes.
As the coin spun rapidly into the air, Riku looked at the coin in confusion; it was not slowing down but it only continued to float upwards. "Oh you might be wondering" Tet spoke up behind him, which made Riku jump in surprise. "This place we are at now, doesn't follow certain rules that you find down there" Tet pointed at the green and blue rock below. "So… because of that, this coin will spin indefinitely" Tet whispered near his ear, again surprising Riku.
Tet reappeared before Riku, a small mischievous smirk on his face. "Now that the coin would never stop and the winner would not be determined..."
Tet analyzed Riku's annoyed reaction. "I should have expected this" Riku remarked as he scratched his head quite harshly.
"You still technically won though" Riku lifted his head up and stared at Tet, contemplating what he said before shortly realizing what he meant. "Because it was a draw, no one won; but..."
"Both bets should be carried out and..." Riku shook his head in amusement, before he began to chuckle; escalating quickly into full-blown laughter.
"I didn't win the game, but I won the bet" It was so easy, no matter who won; it always benefited him greater than his opponent.
"Is that good enough for you?" Tet asked in a joyful tone.
"As much as I hate to admit it, but yes" Riku laughed again, his mood had been significantly better than his arrival earlier.
"Now since no one won, I think you should honor my bet first" The virgin twenty year old sighed and shook his head, still amused at the outcome of the game. Riku sat cross-legged a feet away from Tet. "What shall be the rules?" Tet asked as the globe that represented Disboard appeared in between them.
Riku stared at the globe for a moment, contemplating on which rules this world would follow.
He then saw the chaos that ensued within the world.
"Let's start easy, No one shall die, no war shall happen, no robbery shall take place, no matter whom or what it is"
He then remembered the board he used to battle Tet in his thoughts while he was a youngling, the same board he used to battle and lose against his wife, Shuvi.
"Secondly, all conflicts shall be resolved through games"
The coin flip they did earlier, he smiled and rubbed his fingers, imagining the coin in his palm.
"Within games, each player get to choose their bets and each can judge if it is of equal value" He emphasized the last bit, making Tet chuckle.
He then remembered all the hard headed people that lived.
"As long as it doesn't violate the first three, anything can be bet and anything can be played"
Memories of unfair games then crossed his mind, and the people that didn't do their promises.
"The people challenged would have the right to decide the rules of the game, and bets must be honored, no matter the cost"
The alliances, the wars and the pacts he and his fellow Ghosts created between the races, a task deemed impossible yet was done. Riku was proud of himself and his fellow Ghosts.
"Conflicts between races will be conducted by those designated with absolute authority"
He also remembered the times when he tried to cheat in the game of chess against Shuvi, which made him laugh.
"If a cheater is caught, it's an instant loss for him"
Again, he remembered the hard headed people.
"In the name of Tet, all the rules I've said should never be changed in meaning or intention"
He finished as he lifted his head to look at Tet.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Tet asked with an innocent smile. Riku instantly remembered.
"Let's all have fun playing together?" Tet nodded as he stood up from his sitting position. "I think that's good enough" Riku followed him and stood up.
"Now honor my bet" Riku turned serious.
"Of course, are you ready though?" Riku then looked at the majestic view of space, only now noticing the beauty. "Yes"
"Let's play again sometime" Tet said as he took a step back away from Riku. He stared at Tet for a moment before he uttered, "Sure". A bright light then engulfed Riku the moment he finished.
(-)
Landing quite harshly on the ground, he pushed himself up with his two arms. He surveyed his surroundings, everything felt natural here; unlike up there. The sunlight bore onto his back, the wind was calmly blowing and the grass beneath him pricked at all his exposed body parts. He still wore the white clothing though.
That was when he saw her.
Just a few feet away from him, Shuvi stood; bare naked before him in the middle of the swaying grass. She was as beautiful as ever, which sent certain natural reactions within Riku's body. "Riku?" Her voice was extremely natural, gone was the Ex Machina tone she always gave off. Her tails and other characteristics were still present though.
"S-Shuvi" He reached out to her but before he could comprehend, she crashed onto him with a bear crushing hug. "RIKU!" She nuzzled her head into his chest and wept into his shirt, before she wrapped her arms and legs around his upper body. "I'm so sorry! I didn't listen to you, I left you, I-"
Riku smiled and silenced her with a lasting kiss so passionate that even Shuvi was shunned. She got a grip on reality and kissed back, her superior strength meant that he was gradually being pushed down on the ground. The two separated when Riku was already grasping for air.
"It's ok Shuvi, no need to worry about stuff like that" He stroked her raven black hair. She tightened her hold on Riku and sighed happily.
"I now understand the emotion of love Riku" Shuvi stated as she continued to pull her body closer to Riku, if that was possible.
"Took you long enough" He chuckled. "I want to share all of that with you Riku. I love you and I can only plead that you will stay with me" A smile appeared on Riku's face, one that was of genuine happiness.
"Luckily for you, I share as much as you have, and Tet knows that I'll never leave you" Shuvi visibly smiled at this. This surprised Riku, her smile was entrancing, he would never want that to disappear.
He smiled back at her and continued to stroke her hair. "Riku?"
"Yes?" He replied as he dwelt in the moment of their closeness.
"I have a hole now"
"...Really?..." A smirk broke through his face.
(-)
A/N
A short tribute I made for the upcoming No Game No Life Movie (which I already stated above), this story took me quite a while to make/proofread; it's not what I expected it to be but I still expect that this would do well. When I heard about the movie, I was really excited and so I read the Light Novel up to Ch 7. My thoughts about it? I didn't really like Jibril after I finished reading it, poor Izuna for knowing all those dark themes also; she's just eight years old! Anyways, it was a good read. I hope the movie is worth it though.