Idk how to summarize this OTL

ANYWAY there isn't really a plot to this - it's just some (mild?) Yu and Tsubasa angst, bc we're rewatching Metal Fight, and these two give me so many feelings and I love them so much.

This takes place from the end of Metal Fusion to roundabouts the middle of Metal Masters, feat. time skips

Enjoy!

A sharp gasp jolts Tsubasa back into the here and now. His hands stop mindlessly polishing Eagle as he twists in his chair to see Yu tossing and turning where he lies on the bench. He's been resting there ever since his daring escape from the Dark Nebula building, and as soon as Kenta had gone out to battle Reiji, Yu had fallen asleep.

Now, it's just Tsubasa alone in the room with Yu. The others all left to go watch Kenta's battle, but as Tsubasa has a very important battle of his own to prepare for…

Another frightened gasp, and Tsubasa realizes that he's let himself zone out again. He can't seem to stop doing that today – with all the weight his next beybattle carries he just can't afford to stop thinking about it. There's so much riding on this one battle.

Tsubasa has to be ready.

He knows he can win, though, so he forces himself to focus.

Despite the fact that he was sleeping peacefully only moments ago, Yu's face is now contorted into a grimace. He's whimpering as his body twists around – not enough for him to fall off of his makeshift bed, but enough that Tsubasa belatedly realizes what's going on.

Nightmare, his brain helpfully supplies. Just like that, he's out of his seat and pushing Eagle back into its holster. He kneels down beside the bench, where Yu is fitfully tossing and turning.

"Yu," he says, trying not to be too loud. The last thing he wants to do is spook the kid. His hands come up to hover uselessly for a moment before he settles one of them on Yu's shoulder. "Yu!" He ups his volume and accompanies it with a bit of a shake this time.

Yu doesn't respond, instead curling in on himself and tugging away from Tsubasa's hand.

"Yu, wake up," Tsubasa tries again, fingers still stubbornly squeezing Yu's shoulder (although careful not to be too tight). He really doesn't want to startle the boy, but he gives another, firmer shake – and just like that, Yu is awake.

"Wha – Tsubasa?" Yu's eyes are wide as they blink open, and there isn't enough grogginess in his voice to disguise the panic. "I, um…."

Tsubasa doesn't even realize that he still has a grip on Yu's shoulder until his thumb starts rubbing circles into the fabric. It's an automatic reaction, meant to comfort, and he makes no move to stop it. "It's alright," he says, "it was just a dream."

Those vibrant green eyes are still shining, but Yu has always recovered from things like this relatively quick. He's definitely calming down now. "I know. I don't usually do that," he mumbles, sounding less like the child he is than ever before.

"Nightmares are common after traumatic experiences, or when you're dealing with stress," Tsubasa supplies, in what is also something of an automatic reaction. "You've definitely had plenty of both lately."

Yu makes a sound somewhere between a snicker and a scoff as he sits up. When he brushes Tsubasa's hand off of his shoulder, his own lingers on top of it for half a moment. "You could say that again…even if you do sound like a bad Wikipedia article."

Tsubasa doesn't even bother to try and hide his smirk – actually, Yu seems keen on returning it, so it's all good. Crouched down as he is, Yu's seat makes him just a little bit taller, and Tsubasa is once again struck by how strong he is for someone so young. He wonders if maybe this is how older siblings feel. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offers.

"No," Yu answers. His arms are crossed and he sticks his nose in the air briefly. "I'm trying not to think about it, why would I wanna talk about it. Jeez."

"You sure? It might help." He doesn't know why he doesn't just accept the rejection and walk away. It's not as if he's ever been very close with Yu.

…Then again, he never could bring himself to turn his back on someone he cares about.

"Yeah I'm sure." Yu's eyes roll, and altogether he seems bound and determined to forget this whole incident. "I'll be just fine!"

Tsubasa just barely resists the urge to ruffle Yu's hair as he stands back up. "I don't doubt that for a moment."

Behind him, Blader DJ shouts something about Serpent, and Tsubasa realizes that the TV has been on this whole time. He turns to glance at it, just to check the progress, but whips back around when he hears Yu gasp.

"Kenchi! He needs my help!"

As Yu jumps off the bench and bolts out of the room, Tsubasa watches him go with a smile.

x

It's dark, and for a while, that's all that registers. The darkness is the all-consuming kind that seems to grow the more he tries to fight his way out of it.

The only thing around for miles seems to be the disembodied voices, but he can't tell if they're shouting or whispering, crying or cheering. Trying to work out any words also proves useless – he thinks he might catch his name, uttered in a scratchy voice, like maybe whoever is speaking is talking to him. He gets the feeling that the message is important, so he strains his ears, but soon the darkness stifles that sense.

One by one, the rest of his senses are snuffed out, until all there is is a dark void for him to float in. It's quiet, and he can't move, but there's a sharp feeling in his gut that something is very wrong that's growing all the while.

And then the silence and stillness are shattered by a loud crack of bright purple lightning. He can move again, and so with claps of thunder behind him and the indiscernible voices returning to close in on all sides: he runs.

He runs even though he's not sure what's chasing him. He runs and runs and runs, noticing the scenery for the first time. He's in a thick, misty forest where craggy tree roots threaten to trip him at every turn. Red eyes peer out between every set of trunks, tracking his progress.

He runs so long that he's out of breath by the time he realizes that he's no longer being pursued.

No.

Now, when he runs, he is chasing. He sees red.

He's hunting and hungry, and there's so much out there to catch – so much power to be had, and all he has to do is take it.

All he has to do is win.

The voices scatter and turn into those of his friends, and slowly his sharp dragon's teeth sink into the fluttering wings of an eagle.

Tsubasa is sitting up when he comes back to himself, chest heaving with shaky breaths as he fights to regain composure.

He was asleep, right?

That…was a dream, right?

He blinks and stares down at his feet. They're pressed flat to the bed, sticking out from the covers, his knees bent a little. He counts his toes, and then counts them backwards, and takes deep, careful breaths. Once he's calmer (but still clenching the blanket in both fists) he lets his eyes wander around the train car.

Outside the window, he can see snowflakes blurring past as they go, but it's too dark to make out much else. Everything in the car is quiet, and the only movement is from the rocking of the train.

He's safe. Nothing's happened. It was only a dream – just a nightmare.

"Tsubasa?"

He doesn't jump, exactly, but his fingers twitch and his heart lurches in a way that makes his insides feel all taut. Then he calms back down again, reminding his thudding pulse that everything is fine as best as he can.

"Hey, Tsubasa!"

Apparently, his response didn't come fast enough for Yu's liking, and now the younger 'blader is leaning over the edge of his top bunk. Blond hair is flipped upside down, but both his eyes and his pout look equally demanding from this position.

"Yeah, Yu?" His voice is only a little hoarse – hopefully that means he wasn't shouting in his sleep. He doesn't feel that far gone, but he's also hesitant to rule anything like that out, lately….

"Are you okay?" Yu looks directly into Tsubasa's eyes when he asks, and they both feel the unspoken weight of the question.

This, though…this is something that Tsubasa knows isn't Yu's problem. Yu shouldn't have to worry about this. This is something that's wrong with Tsubasa, and it's something that he has to deal with on his own. Dragging Yu into this won't help either of them, and is entirely unfair to boot. He won't do that. He can't.

So he lies.

"Yeah," it's easy enough, undercover work is his specialty, "I'm fine."

Yu, unfortunately, doesn't seem to believe him. Nothing is said by way of a call-out, but he frowns with his whole face: furrowing his brow and puffing out his cheeks to intensify his pout. Eventually, his face starts to go red – probably from hanging upside down for so long – and he stops his scrutinizing in favor of pulling himself back up into his own bed.

Tsubasa has only just started counting this as a victory when Yu lands on the ground next to him with a thud.

"What are you doing?" he asks, raising an eyebrow, because this kid still manages to surprise him almost daily. "There are easier ways to get down from there, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Yu waves his hand in dismissal, except that his hand is holding his pillow at the time, and it ends up swatting Tsubasa ineffectively in the knees. "Move over, I can't sleep."

He's absolutely a hundred percent sure that Yu was fast asleep only a few moments ago, and he's also pretty certain that these beds are definitely not big enough to share. Not to mention, if he has another nightmare, he doesn't want to wake up to find that he's shoved Yu onto the floor.

Still, he slides over and lets Yu join him.

"Trains are so stuffy," Yu complains, punching his pillow after crawling under Tsubasa's blanket. He settles down, then. "When are we getting to Russia?"

"Tomorrow," Tsubasa supplies. He spends a few too long minutes watching Yu get comfortable, and then finally lies down next to him – on his side, so that Yu has extra room.

"Can't come fast enough if you ask me," Yu speaks around a yawn.

Despite everything, Tsubasa smiles.

x

Yu hates hospitals. He's never really realized how much he hates them – he's always heard people complain about them, but never fully understood that sentiment until now. Hospitals are yucky and bland and the only news around is bad news.

He's been here for an hour, camped out on an uncomfortable chair in some kind of waiting room. All of the others are also here, waiting for news about Tsubasa; although they all dispersed somewhere else, probably to do something more interesting while they wait. He kind of remembers hearing something about a cafeteria.

…Yu, for once, can't bring himself to wander too far off.

It still makes him angry that that Phoenix guy wanted to kick Tsubasa off the team. It's not his fault he's having problems! Tsubasa is doing his best, and he's going to be just fine! They'll all see. All they have to do is find Ryuga….

Just how did everything get to be such a mess anyway? The World Championship was supposed to be the most fun experience of Yu's life, but now he almost wishes they'd never left home.

Somehow, after trying every possible position on the supposed-to-be-soft-but-that-was-ruined-by-the-plastic-upholstery chair, Yu finds one comfortable enough to sleep in.

The darkness. Tsubasa with tendrils of purplish black smoke suffocating him. Fire all around. This horrifying creature that still looks too much like his friend reaching for him, shoving him aside, trampling him on his way to –

He's awake again, and less than half an hour has passed.

Nightmares. It's been a long time since those have bothered him so consistently, but lately, it's been happening more and more.

A quick look around tells Yu that he's still alone in the waiting room. Somehow he doesn't think the doctors will even tell him when it's okay to go and see Tsubasa – he's just a little kid, after all. People are always underestimating him because of that, and sometimes he takes advantage of it.

Like right now, for instance.

Yu absolutely needs to see Tsubasa this minute – that nightmare cinched it – and nobody is going to stop him.

No one notices the boy sticking to the shadows and artfully dodging anyone vaguely resembling an authority figure, and the walk to Tsubasa's room isn't a long one, anyway. He makes it there in record time and goes completely undetected.

Ordinarily, the door whooshing shut behind him would be his cue to celebrate a sneaky job well done, but the sight of Tsubasa pale and still on a hospital bed zaps any enthusiasm right out of Yu. (It's way worse than that time he'd come across a closed up ice cream shop.)

His nightmare comes back and twirls around the front of his mind. He pushes it away, telling it to go and sit in the dark corner of his brain and not to come out ever again. Tsubasa would never hurt him. Tsubasa will never hurt him.

Yu's hands grip the edges of too-crisp hospital bedding, and he stares down at Tsubasa's face. He looks troubled even as he sleeps, and Yu wonders what kinds of tests they ran on him. He wonders if Tsubasa will ever be the same again.

"You – " he swallows " – you have to be okay, Tsubasa."

Lately, Yu's been trying really hard not to cry, especially over this. Because he really, truly believes in Tsubasa! Now, though, he gives up on acting tough as he buries his face in the blankets somewhere near Tsubasa's shoulder. "You have to," he chokes out between muffled sobs.

With his eyes squeezed shut, it's harder to get rid of nightmare Tsubasa.

Yu tries anyway.

...Usually, when I write about Yu and Tsubasa, it's happier than this. Metal Masters is so tough on these kids,

BUT I always have a really good time writing about them - I have a lot of ideas that I can hopefully turn into a more light-hearted series of one-shots? I'm gonna try, at any rate, that's the plan.

Thanks for reading!