Notes: set post-canon, anime based (and there's one reference to GX), and works under the assumption that not too much time passed between the end of BC and the end of the series; dialogue-heavy.

Disclaimer: I don't own yugioh, just borrowing these characters for fun and no profit, no infringement intended.

And Back Again

It's day for day a year after their fateful duel that his ancient adversary stands on his doorstep, a bag flung over his shoulder, clad in comfortable looking sight-seeing tourist's clothes – he even has a camera hanging from a cord on his neck, and his shirt is white with a cartoonish picture of the great sphinx on it – and leaning against the wall with a marked air of impatience, though Rishid is sure that it can't have taken him more than a minute to open the door, and it's not like he was expecting the visit.

He would have put the timing down to him being aware of the power of symbols, but Jounouchi's first words are: "Do you know how hard you are to reach? This is the third time I'm coming by."

Admittedly, all three times could have been today, but it's still early in the afternoon.

Jounouchi looks him up and down with a serious, inquisitive air that doesn't fit with the otherwise easy, careless demeanour; Rishid finds himself staring back: Jounouchi hasn't changed much, the wild blond hair a little shorter, and something a bit sharper in the traits that makes him look older, more mature, though the bright, goofy grin challenges that notion.

"Not to mention how hard it was to find you," Jounouchi adds, and, with a barely noticeable hesitation: "Can I come in?"

"Of course," he hears himself say, and moves over to the side to let him pass; Jounouchi breezes though the narrow corridor to his living room; Rishid needs a brief moment to recollect himself, then closes the door and follows him, and asks: "Why were you looking for me?"

It's not that he expected to never meet any of the members of the group surrounding the pharaoh again; they came too close, in something that must have cut too deep, for all of them, to become entirely separate again; but for Jounouchi to go looking for him – for him, theirs was the most important duel of his life, and his own worst failure, but Jounouchi, he knows, has had many more, and the effect can't have been the same...

"You vanished," Jounouchi says like that's an explanation, and looks through the room like he's afraid every object in it will break if he touches it, before he lets the bag slide down on the floor with an exaggerated "ouf", and sits down in the nearest chair.

"I didn't vanish," he snaps back, maybe a tad defensively; the truth is, even Isis doesn't know how to reach him at the moment, and he feels guilty for abandoning her like that even though she is the one who told him, time and time again, to be a little selfish. But for Malik, he's never vanished. That much egoism – or that much lack thereof, he isn't sure which one – is asking for too much. Intuitively, because he knows how well Jounouchi, of all people, will understand this, and more because the fact makes him unwilling to pretend he doesn't know what the other one means than because he expect anything from it, he says it: "Malik knows where I am."

"I knew it!" Jounouchi exclaims, a little angrily, then glances up at him and grins, disarming. "He didn't tell me. I would have been here earlier else."

"Why?" Rishid asks again, and sits down as well.

"To see how you're doing," Jounouchi says easily, meets his eyes briefly and looks away again, almost as if he were embarrassed. Weird. "That's what friends are for."

Despite of everything, he's surprised by how much the declaration, flung at him quickly, like there's more hiding beneath it, touches him. He remembers Jounouchi on the battlefield, and how he had wished he didn't have to fight him; this much was mutual, he was certain, but he never truly believed that it went further than that.

"That's very thoughtful of you," Rishid says, and then, ashamed of how off-hand, conventionally polite the answer must sound, adds with as much warmth as he can: "Thank you."

Maybe he put too much into these two words, because Jounouchi glances up briefly, and looks down very quickly again, and he seems nervous, plays with the cord of his camera, bits his lips. Rishid is about to offer a drink, a snack, anything that can work as a small distraction, when he looks back up, eyes very clear and serious:

"I left a friend on her own for too long once. Never checked if she was okay, and I knew what she's been through – and, well. I wanted to make sure you're not still beating yourself up over not being the first one to stand up."

Right; insightful, not subtle, Rishid remembered that now. He doesn't meet the other man's gaze.

"Everything worked out for the best, in the end."

"Exactly," Jounouchi exclaims, happily. "Do you believe that?"

"Of course I do." He still doesn't meet his eyes, even though he knows that it must be suspicious. "And if I had won that duel – if you had lost – who knows what would have happened?" Who knows how far Malik would have gone, even without the darkest part of his soul released? Rishid believes now that the confrontation had been necessary, though he would have done, would still do anything to spare his brother the pain of it.

"Yeah." Jounouchi gestures around impatiently. "But what I mean – it doesn't mean you weren't strong enough."

The way he looks at him then, so hopeful and willing him to understand, and a little frustrated, like he thinks his words aren't clear enough, all of that makes Rishid want to acquiesce just to please him, but he owes Jounouchi to be more honest than that.

"Of course it does," he says as calmly as possible, careful not to let any bitterness slip into his tone. "But it was for the best, and you deserved that victory."

"No," Jounouchi snaps. "I mean, thanks." He grins briefly. "But – look, after the other Malik got released –" Here, Rishid opens his mouth to protest at the strange appellation "other Malik", the same they used for the pharaoh before he had his name, he remembers, but Jounouchi uses it so naturally, and there's something soothing in this sort if labelling of the dark entity, fixing and dismissing its object; Jounouchi, who's looking down at his hands, doesn't notice. " – he sent Mai into a coma, almost killed her –" He interrupts himself briefly, glances up. "Do you remember Mai?" Rishid nods, and Jounouchi looks back down. "Right. So, Mai might've been dying anytime, and I wanted to save her, so I really wanted to duel and beat the bastard."

There's a pause; Jounouchi glances up, uncomfortable, the literal meaning of the insult catching up with him.

"Er, I – sorry. I mean, I wanted to save Mai, and I almost did, but then I lost the duel. But then Yuugi and – and Atemu were there, and then you and Malik, and even Kaiba helped a bit, so it's not true that I wasn't strong enough. You know? They made sure I wasn't. And you weren't either, because we – Yuugi mostly fought him until you woke up again. That's what's important. Having friends who have your back." Jounouchi looks up at him expectantly, then away, and there's a faint blush colouring his cheeks, or maybe it's just a light sunburn making itself known. "And I wanted to let you know that whatever else happens, you do. Have friends." He passes a nervous hand though his air. "And sometimes things just work out."

Rishid doesn't know what to say to it; part of him rebels against the notion that he's not guilty (it was his duty, his place to protect and serve Malik and to succeed, his very existence has no meaning beyond that...), and maybe from anyone else he would have dismissed it. And the hand outstretched to him, it almost frightens him, the trust – he knows nothing of friendship, in truth, he has a good working relationship with his colleagues now, but nothing else. And the few times that he's thought of returning to his old attaches, Jounouchi is the one he thought of the most next to the pharaoh and his vessel, ...

It's strange to think that he's the older one, he doesn't feel it.

"Thank you," he eventually says, again, and forces himself to look Jounouchi scare in the eyes. "I appreciate this. Greatly." Jounouchi smiles at him, timidly, like he too suddenly remembers the age difference between them. "I never meant to worry you, I am sorry for that."

"No no no, that's fine," Jounouchi throws back, a little annoyed. "But – I would like to stay in touch, this time. Not only because I'm worried." He averts his eyes, once again nervous. "Uh – in any case, I'm here now for a while. Actually –" Wide smile, even more nervous. "I was kind of hoping I could crash with you."

"Of course," Rishid says quickly; he has little space and this is sudden, but he's very glad to be able to do something for him; then he remember that Jounouchi has already been here three times. "Where are you living now?"

"With some guy. I found on the internet. Not a friend, someone who's part of a world-wide room sharing community. I have to let someone live in my place when they want in exchange, but I have too much space anyway since my sister's moved out. Oh, and thank you! I know it's on short – no notice," he adds, a little clumsily, like a badly learned-by-heart line.

"Shizuka?" Rishid asks, a bit surprised; he knew nothing of them living together, but he would have thought that if they had the chance, these two siblings would not want to leave each other again; he tries to shake off the feeling of unease. The two of them are people, not a kind of story for him to draw comfort from. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Please!" Jounouchi says, and then follows him to the kitchen, and watches from the door while he opens the fridge. "We got her mother to agree to let her transfer school, and then she even paid for her half of the apartment."

Rishid silently marvels at the total lack of bitterness in Jounouchi's tone as he says this, thinks of himself with a knife in his hand and ready to strike his own brother...

But that too, he shakes off, as always; it will pass. He looks at the content of his fridge which he's already been staring at for a little while without seeing, then retrieves a bottle.

"Water?" he offers; Jounouchi blinks, once, then nods and takes the bottle, and returns to his spot by the door, while Rishid hovers, a little uncertain, by the sink. "Why is she leaving then?" he asks, and keeps his voice completely even.

Jounouchi shrugs.

"Dunno. It's too much. She says she doesn't want to live in a different town ever again, but not in the same apartment." He grins, a bit embarrassed and rueful, and seeming to relieve a bittersweet memory; Rishid watches him, doesn't interrupt, even more touched than he would have expected. It suddenly makes sense, when Jounouchi says it, even though he doesn't offer an explanation. "And if I don't find a roommate in time I can stay at Yuugi's for a while." Another smile, and he takes a gulp of water, coughs when he swallows too fast, and tries to talk though the coughs.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said – " Jounouchi clears his throat. "I know you're probably busy, but you need to duel me sometimes. You heard that Kaiba's planning to open a duelling school? We need to make sure to stay atop, with all the competition coming in!..."

Rishid hesitates. He still owns his deck – didn't even cleanse it of the counterfeit cards Malik put in it, he sees no harm in it as long as he doesn't use them – but he hasn't played since Battle City, and wasn't planning to. But now, he doesn't want to disappoint Jounouchi, who's now all back to innocent excitement, and he doesn't want to give him the impression that he values their one battle less than he does.

"Maybe," he says, evasively. "I haven't played in a while."

"It's not something you lose," says Jounouchi, with absolute confidence, and puts the bottle down. "Hey, can I tell Yuugi I found you? I promised I would if you're alright with it."

"No," Rishid says a little blankly, surprised; he has revered the nameless pharaoh his whole life, and there has been something between him and Jounouchi for the duration of their duel; but he barely knows these people, and he never expected them to care as much... "I don't mind..."

"Great!" The smile is a little too wide this time, and falls quickly, replaced by a more uncertain expression, though not a sad one; hopeful, in a sense, Rishid thinks, looking back, and feels himself smiling back, just as uncertain and hopeful. "And, uh, thanks again."

~fin~

AN: And then they lived happily ever after! Or so I'd like to assume.

Reviews are always greatly appreciated. ;)