Doccy: I can't even begin to explain how excited I am.

S-S: I know, the next episodes of ARC-V are going to be so great! ESPECIALLY the one on Christmas, because we get more Zarc!

Doccy: Yesyesyes! I'm genuinely excited, actually. It'll be nice to see more of him.

S-S: Yeah, although it'll suck because that has a chance of making all the Zarc and Ray fics completely AU rather than potential backstory. That's why I sometimes like canon being vague on details, it lets the fans theorize about it instead of one solid "Nope, this is it, this is exactly what happened and you will deal with it." I thought a certain favorite anime of mine was going to stay like that with the ending, that's why I liked it so much, amongst other things, but no the company just had to revive it for its tenth anniversary and—

Doccy: Whoa, Sky, it's not like you to get this angry. Let's stay with ARC-V here.

S-S: *Rubs head sheepishly* Ahaha, sorry about that. I just get really passionate sometimes. Guess you've never heard one of my angry rants before.

Doccy: Can't say that I have.

S-S: Mm. Well, we've talked for long enough. Don't you think it's time to let our readers see what we came up with together?

Doccy: Agreed.

S-S: Okay! Then, neither of us own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V or the characters involved.

Doccy: We hope you enjoy this!

"F…f-friends?" / "Yeah, silly! Let's be friends!"

RAY:

When I see him, he's wandering on his own.

Even then he stands out. Among all the others I can feel something about him. Something special.

Our eyes meet, and I send him a smile. He gives a strained smile in return as the blush spreads across his cheeks.

He falls over into the sandbox and I can't help but giggle as he sits back up with a stupid smile on his face. He's so cute, I have to know who he is.

"So, what's your name?" I ask him.

He hesitates a moment, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Promise not to laugh?"

I let out another giggle, and I'm really not sure why. "Okay," I promise.

He takes a deep breath and tenses up. "It's… it's Zarc. My-my name is Zarc."

Zarc. I can see why he'd think I would laugh at it, it's a weird name. But mine's weird too. "That's a nice name," I say, smiling at him.

He looks like I just hit him. "Really? Y-you think so?"

I nod several times. "Yeah. It's a nice name."

He stares blankly at me for several moments. Has no one ever said that before?

"W-wha… What's your name?" he ends up settling on.

I giggle for the third time. "It's Ray," I answer. The understanding is clear on his face.

He's not too bad.

"Do you wanna be friends?" I ask, hoping he says yes.

He looks like I hit him again. "F…f-friends?" The word sounds strange on his tongue.

I smile at him and nod again. "Yeah, silly! Let's be friends!"

"Oh… Uh… Okay?" he responds slowly, shifting around almost uncomfortably. But then he returns my smile.

"Ray, come on. We have to go home, now," Daddy's voice calls from the other side of the playground.

"Okay Daddy, coming!" I call back. I hop off the swing and start running, glancing back at the silver-haired boy one last time. He's still standing there.

Daddy catches my hand and leads me back to the car, but all I can think about is the new friend that I made.

I wonder when I'll see him again.

ZARC:

The first time I see her, she's all on her own, rocking back and forth on a swing.

Even then she was beautiful. Just the sight of her burned itself into my eyes like I was staring into the sun.

She was breathtaking.

She sees that I'm looking at her. She smiles at me and I feel my legs turning into jelly. Her eyes are like stars in the night sky.

I fall over backwards onto the sand and she giggles. I make a goofy smile and scratch my head before getting up again.

"So, what's your name?" I hear her ask. I blush a little in return.

"Promise not to laugh," I ask. She giggles for a moment, but stops herself quickly. "Okay," she says.

I take a deep breath. "It's… it's Zarc. My-my name is Zarc."

I brace for the ridicule. Except… it doesn't come.

"That's a nice name."

That's the first time I've ever heard those words in my life.

"Really? Y-you think so?"

"Yeah. It's a nice name."

"Uhh…" I have no idea how to keep talking. My tongue seems to make a knot around itself as I try to say something, anything!

"W-wha… what's your name?" I ask.

She giggles again. "It's Ray," she says. Her name is Ray. Huh. Maybe that's why she didn't laugh at my name. Hers is weird, just like mine.

"Do you wanna be friends?" she asks and I'm pretty sure I died right there.

"F…f-friends?"

"Yeah, silly! Let's be friends!"

"Oh… Uh… Okay?" I say tentatively. Back then I never even knew what friends were. Never had any.

"Ray, come on. We have to go home, now," a voice calls out from across the playground. It's coming from an adult. Her father.

I wish I had a father.

"Okay Daddy, coming!" She jumps off the swing and leaves me there.

I'm still reeling from the shock.

S-S: …And that's part one of twelve!

Doccy: It looks real good.

S-S: Well, of course it does! You're the one that came up with the scene first through Zarc's POV. I just filled in the blanks in Ray's POV afterwards, and made hers first because of consistency reasons later on in this.

Doccy: Hey, don't give me all the credit. Your work is amazing too. Don't forget, you wrote some of the later scenes first and I thought they were perfect.

S-S: *Scratches ear* …W-Well, yeah, I did. Hah. I'm sometimes too humble or nice for my own good. Seriously, someone at my work actually told me I say "Sorry" more than any person ever should. I just default to it whenever I think I almost bumped into someone even if I was nowhere close to touching them.

Doccy: Take some credit for once, you deserve it.

S-S: Thanks. We both deserve some with this.

Doccy: Yep.

S-S: *Turns to readers* Well guys? Please leave a review telling us what you thought!