Title: Red Eyes Knight

Author: Jonouchi-Kaiba-Mokie

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Jonouchi x Fubuki (possible side pairings)

Spoilers: season four

Summary: Two duelists meet in the American Pro Circuit, one hurt too much to want to continue, the other a playboy with many dark secrets.

Disclaimer: YGO and YGO GX do not belong to me, they are copyright to Kazuki Takahashi.

Comeback duels sucked, that was all that Fubuki truly knew, and with the fans that pawed at him temporarily held at bay he was allowed to relax. Granted it wasn't his comeback duel but rather an older pro that had finally showed his face again. They hadn't told him the identity of his opponent but that shouldn't be a problem for Duel Academy's only scholarship student with the ability to duel still intact. Ryo had passed on his deck a grand total of a year before passing on himself shortly after Fujiwara had truly done so.

Fubuki was alone and as he sat there in the locker room he couldn't help but muse on that, shaken from his thoughts only by the opening of the door.

"Are you lost?" The man didn't look like a duelist, or at least not a pro with his tight pants and shirt slit up the side, hardly covered by the short jacket.

"No," the accent was thick, and one Fubuki was quite familiar with despite his time in America. Obviously this one wasn't born American just like he wasn't. "I'm duelin'." Reaching to his bag he pulled out a battle city era duel disk, quite unusual given that most pros these days used a standard academy disk or a variation on it. Fubuki had never seen up close, and certainly not dueled with one that old. So it was quite clear whoever this was had participated in Battle City over fifteen years ago alongside such legendary duelists as Mutou Yugi, Kaiba Seto, and Jonouchi Katsuya, to name a few. What if this man had faced one of them before? This may be too good a chance to miss for Fubuki.

"Tenjoin Fubuki," he offered, watching the other take his outstretched hand.

"Jonouchi," he watched, seeing Fubuki's slight gasp as eyes traced the form, taking in the blond hair and honey eyes. Yes… it made sense; he could see the once third ranked duelist before him in an older shell.

Fubuki chocked slightly, eyes widening. So this was what they had meant by a comeback duel. It was the return of a legendary duelist, and he might as well be chop liver. Brown met brown calmly before a grin broke across Jonouchi's face.

"Man… I'm so out of shape," he said, stretching the long arms. "It's been a while since I've dueled," glancing down the grin remained. "I guess I better change."

Fubuki was still in absolute shock, an absolutely amazing duelist standing here before him and talking lightly. He should be facing Judai or Manjyome or Sho, not him, just the genius prince of Duel Academy.

"It means blizzard, right?" Fubuki shook his head, finally coming to his senses again.

"Yes," the answer was quick, feeling out of it. He had once been called the Blizzard Prince, funny cause it was usually from Ryo, who was as cold as one could get. Suddenly a pain returned to his chest, his heart ready to break. He missed Ryo so much these days when he was traveling alone. In this world he had no friends, he had no lover, just more fans than anyone could ever want and now he was about to make a fool of himself. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears that threatened.

"Something wrong?"

Fubuki looked up at that, gaping slightly again. Here he was, facing his opponent for this duel and he was acting like they were pals? "Just… just thinking of a friend… he died a few years… back."

He expected a laugh at his stupid admittance of weakness but Jonouchi's features softened. "I lost a friend too; I've kinda been out of it since then, stopped dueling and all." Sitting down on the bench he straddled it as he glanced at Fubuki, the younger amazed at how open the man was.

Jonouchi had pulled his two layers of shirts off, reaching down for another in his bag and buttoning it up as soon as he pulled it over his body. Watching closely Fubuki saw a glint of metal, a dog tag hanging from a coiled leather rope. He couldn't help but stare at it, knowing he had seen it on this man in all the videos since the battle city tournament. He wanted to know what made it so important that it would never leave him even years later but he refrained from asking as a pair of pants were pulled on followed by boots and a long white coat, taking on a far more professional look for an exhibition match, his duel disk strapped to his arm, a factor that seemed to instantly change him from the young man off the streets to the world class duelist Fubuki recognized.

Fubuki of course was of the idea that he should find Judai and his sister, maybe even Manjyome and Sho too in order to proclaim his bragging rights. Not only had he just met one of the most famous world class duelists, he was here, having a conversation with him, about to duel him in an arena.

"Jonouchi-san," Fubuki cleared his throat, trying to make his voice work. "I hope I'm a worthwhile opponent for you." He bowed his head slightly, frozen and unlike himself in the face of such a famous person. Of course had it been one of the other two Fubuki would probably have frozen, unable to get a word out. This was just too much for him. "You should really be dueling someone like Judai-kun instead."

"You'll do fine Fubuki," at that he frowned for a moment, his gaze seeming to burn. "And don't you ever call me that again, jeeze, make me feel like an old geezer."

"Then will sempai do?"

He nodded and was about to open his mouth to tease the other some more before there was a sharp knock on the door. "Big Brother, duel starts in ten minutes!" Fubuki knew the voice of course, one that normally threatened him daily when they were younger.

"I'll be ready Asuka," he called back through the door as he reached for his own bag, dressing in the dark outfit he once wore as Darkness, taking his own duel disk from the bag and strapping it down. "My little sister," Fubuki quickly explained, brown and brown meeting once more. Funny how they looked so much alike. Fujiwara had joked about it in time past, how he could easily pass as a younger brother. That was before he ever realized those other uncanny similarities, the attraction to girls, the inability to shut up for ten seconds, even their decks could be compared.

Straightening out his collar Fubuki couldn't help but be worried. "Good luck," Fubuki called back, exiting the room.

"You're going to need it."