FANDOM: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V.
WORD COUNT: 1142.
CHARACTERS: Shiunin Sora, Hikage, Tsukikage.
SUMMARY: Sora has avoided facing Hikage, yet there is much for the Sun Shadow to say to the former academia operative [ implied stealthshipping, oneshot ].
AUTHOR: Originally posted on my tumblr, fusiera. I always post there first and have a waiting period of a day or so before posting anywhere else to improve the story and make edits. These are generally the refined versions. If you want updates sooner, check there!
UPLOADED: 01 - 19 - 18.

im·promp·tu - /imˈpräm(p)ˌt(y)o͞o/ - adjective & adverb
1. done without being planned, organized, or rehearsed.

Hikage. Sora hated seeing him, hated being reminded of what he once was in his days as an academia soldier. Regardless, the boy would be lying if he wasn't taken back by the other being here of all place. There was no way that the Sun Shadow was here to speak with him, yet the way the clad ninja stared at him... It was like he had something to say. Thin brow arches slightly as he regards the golden shadow, green inked orbs searching for an answer in the other's own optics. All he finds is clarity in the depths of those eyes.

The former operative didn't want to hear it — whatever it was. His mind only spun one word: avoid avoid avoid.

Heel turns, refusing to face Hikage. It was almost an arrogant action – back facing him as if Sora didn't deem him a threat, but in truth, it was quite the opposite. Sora feared what else he would discover in the shinobi's eyes — eyes that carried the sun's light like a beacon. Hatred, perhaps. It's what he deserved. He knows that much.

"Shiunin Sora." Muscles tense just beneath the surface at his name. It's twined with a power over Sora. Words seemed to hold him still, like a hand had gripped his shoulder and kept him from slipping away into the shadows. Sora wanted to run, and that potential burns in his legs, but the determination in the duelist's tone tells him that the older would give him a chase if needed. Lollipop is rolled to the other side of his mouth instead and bits of green apple break away as teeth grind into the hard candy.

"My brother has told me much about you." These words are breathed, as if they have been held in for too long, and the speaker only hopes they would be listened to.

Sora huffs, gripping the end of his lollipop stick to pull it out to speak. There's a wet pop and he waves the candy to the side. "Has he now?" His voice feigns interest, though the boy doesn't face him yet. Go away, go away, go away!

Hikage continues. "The real you." At this, Sora chances a look at the warrior. Lashes flutter owlishly in response and sickly green eyes narrow, as if he were trying to understand just what the heck that meant.

"You were an ally against academia. Your assistance was valued." Things Sora has heard before, yet no one seemed to realize how hard it was to unlearn everything Duel Academia instilled in him. He was still struggling. Even now...— "You saved my brother."

Emerald eyes widen, and body moves to at last turn to Hikage. Oh, how those words starkly contrasted Tsukikage's own.

"You killed my brother."

Breath snags in his throat when he thinks of Tsukikage. He didn't want this. Hostility was easier to understand — forgiveness and kindness were still... confusing. Damning, Sora thinks. He couldn't wrap his mind around either. It felt more like his brain unraveled more when he tried. "I didn't do that expecting... anything in return." Eyes dart away. Especially not what he and Tsukikage became. Sora isn't too sure what that is, either... Just that Tsukikage had never taken his revenge on him.

Sora often finds himself wishing the Moon Shadow would.

Why don't you hate me?

"We know."

Those two words irritate him. Sora's not sure why it drags his ire out of him, but the smaller boy sneers in response, reverting back to old habits. "So why, then? Why are you here, telling me all this?"

"Listen, truly listen to what I'm about to say, Shiunin." The Sun Shadow sucks in air, shifting his stance just barely, and approaches the smaller. It's enough to force Sora to look at him again. They lock eyes and hold each other's stare still, neither dropping their gaze. This time, Hikage notices what his brother uncovered. A boy. No soldier, no warrior... Just a boy one or two years younger than his own being. Though, unlike himself, Sora had nobody until recently.

He doesn't know how to react, Hikage thinks. That much is a given. With the youth's earlier tone, he expected to find annoyance twisting his features into ferocity, but instead, it was just as his brother said.

Sora was scared, terrified even... and weary. Uncertainty reflected in those emeralds. Youth didn't understand the world around him anymore; not when there was no one telling him what to do, not when there wasn't a battlefield to force him to pull his seams back together and fight with his life on the line. That was the world Sora had understood — one of war and being controlled and owned by academia.

A sigh passes through parted lips before the Sun Shadow speaks. "I trust my brother with more than my life. We are nothing without another. Yet, Tsukikage has found another piece of himself in you." Hikage has come to conclusion it was the same for Sora. Yet, instead of trying to align those pieces together... Bluecoat avoided him more than he had Hikage lately. "I want him happy... and he wants the same to extend to you. I can see as easily as he does who you are now."

Sora dips his head, breaking contact to hide the sparkle of tears in his eyes before the other can see. No... "I— I-I'm not... someone you want around." I could hurt you both again. I'm not someone you can trust. What if I—

"You are good." Hikage's words snips the thoughts in the bud, easily reading that the boy had a inner storm forming.

Sora was shaking...

And he didn't know how to feel about the way Hikage watches him in that moment. Completely... silent and unjudging. How quickly tears brim lashes and how, just as soon, the boy tries to rid of such weakness streaking down his face once they breached. In the past when Sora cried, when he bled, when he failed — it was punishable. Somehow now, though, he felt lighter in a strange way. The boy so badly wants to give in to these words.

He was good...? He had been hurting people for as long as he could remember, for as long as he could hold a deck and yet... Hikage didn't leave room for argument from the smaller and so, Sora could only cry harder, form now wracking with sobs.

He was... good...

"I think... You were the one he needed to hear that from most." Shadow darkens as he approaches his brother from behind. Hikage never ceased to surprise him. He was truly like the sun's messenger.

"I knew you were watching." The Sun Shadow merely smiles, and though the curl of his lips are hidden, he's sure Tsukikage knows what's underneath.

I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH! ARC V.

NOTES: Thank you for reading! I'm sorry if it didn't flow correctly. I kept trying to change my mind on where to take the story. I'm a bit rusty as well, but I still hope it was enjoyable. Please feel free to leave pointers and point out any grammatical errors. I want to improve and strive for perfection!