A/N: Written for the GX_100 challenge for prompt #058: indecision. And the card pack Ryou's looking at is the World Championship Edition 6 BTW.
Housewarming Gift
Ryou had admirable skills in many things – though not everyone realised that his era in duelling had become stagnant – but some social commitments appeared beyond him.
He didn't know what Fujiwara was thinking; the other wasn't the partying type and Ryou found himself suspecting Fubuki to have a hand before Fujiwara assured him that was not the case. He hadn't done a good job in explaining what was though…but, Ryou reflected, that may simply be a mark of how much they had changed since their first year together and Duel Academia. Fubuki seemed closer to more than just a few select people. Fujiwara talked more than the bare minimum…though he did manage to often obscure facts in the process. And time had become far more valuable for Ryou, and he found himself often impatient when events weren't moving along quickly enough.
Hence why he lacked any natural affinity for shopping. And why he'd left the hunt for a present so late he simply had to find something presentable in the next half hour…unless he intended to show up at Fujiwara's new house empty-handed.
Frowning, Ryou combed through the shelves. Handkerchiefs? Surely Fujiwara had plenty of those? Aftershave? Wrong brand, wrong brand…apparently, this particular store didn't sell the right one. Wallet? He'd gotten one for Fujiwara for his birthday; it would look odd giving another one so soon. Cuff-links? Did Fujiwara even wear cufflinks?
He sighed, moving on. Why couldn't presents click the same way Duel Monster cards did? He never had this problem revamping his deck whenever he brought new card packs on a whim…or, in the most recent circumstance, after he gave his old one to his younger brother. While he was confident Sho could take that deck further than he could ever hope to himself, it had left him with the problem of no longer owning one. But even then, he had found it relatively easy to create a new one from scratch – much easier than his current task in fact.
He turned to the next aisle, found it filled with jewellery, and surrendered.
Five minutes later, he was peering at the display case inside Kame Game. The Blue Eyes White Dragon, as always, was the centrepiece, still with the cello-tape connecting the two halves together. The pieces of Exodia were once there as well, but they had been removed to make way of the promotion of new duelling packs and Ryou poured over them with interest. Kuriboh-Calling Flute was there, much to his surprise; Judai had been using it for years with Hane Kuribioh, after all. Then there were a few he had yet to see in a duel: Bird-King Alector was one of those, a winged beast that could be special summoned from the hand with the right set-up on the opponent's field. And then Genesic Dragon, which would go quite well with Fubuki's deck…and Ryou quickly checked his wallet to make sure he had enough. It would save him the trouble of hunting for a present the next time society called him to give the brunet something after all.
Still, he hadn't found something that would go well with Fujiwara's fairy-lockdown deck. He had Marshmallon to protect from attacks, and Marshmallon Glasses to redirect all attacks to it. He had Archangel Christia to prevent special summoning, and Honest to backfire attacks. And then there was Athena that drained the opponent for 800 life points each time a fairy was summoned to the field. And then there was Sanctuary of the Sky, which not only prevented battle damage when a fairy was involved in the battle, but also allowed the use of the powerful counter-trap Divine Punishment, which could stop almost any magic, trap or monster effect without a cost, like that which came with Heaven's Penalty or Seven Tools of the Bandit.
Still, every deck had the potential to evolve, even one so recently dusted off and reused, and Ryou finally found the perfect card beside Genesic Dragon: Angel-O7. A fairy type, light attribute and therefore perfectly suited by means of Athena and Honest and easily summoned out with the ability of Gellenduo. And its ability prevented effect monsters from activating their special abilities. Athena might be crippled by that, like how Archangel Christia crippled Athena, but if played right it could make the lock on special summoning that much more difficult to break. After all, it didn't apply to continuous effects like Archangel Christia's second and more damaging ability.
'You want to buy that one?' Mutou Sugoroku asked, suddenly appearing in his classic bandana and overalls. 'Well, speak up son. My hearing's not what it used to be.'
Ryou didn't waste any more time on thought; upon looking up, he caught sight of both the proprietor and the clock. 'I'll take these two.' He pointed at both Angel-O7 and Genesic Dragon.
He spoke clearly, but it still took a little longer than he cared for the purchase to be rung up, and he didn't bother counting the change before he hurried for a taxi. Normally, he liked to walk, but his legs were starting to protest now that a present had been found. And they deserved the rest, Ryou thought. It should have occurred to him earlier that a card shop would be the best place to find a present for a duellist.
But as he put Genesic Dragon safely away, he realised he had forgotten something in the gift-hunting. And so he, much to Fubuki's amusement, had to hand the unwrapped card to the pleased host.