A/N: Okay, in truth, the only real speculation involved here is on whether or not Fujiwara is going to survive the season. Although, obviously nothing remotely like this is going to happen hence the AU-ness.

After it's all over, Yusuke finds himself left just outside of the group. The sole reason for every bit of trauma ultimately lurking around the edge of everything and Ryo (he doesn't even remember Trueman taking Ryo, which is strange because he feels like he should even among the thousands upon thousands that gave in to the Darkness) shoots him an awkward smile before the little brother starts fussing over him. Fubuki going one step further and moving to his side, asking quietly if he's okay and tacking on a, "we need to talk," before moving away again to check on his sister.

Yusuke takes that as a cue for him to slip (slink) away, because he's always felt a little bit offset from everyone no matter how much Fubuki had always tried to make him fit. Squeezed awkwardly into their small group and where it was once just Fubuki and Ryo it soon became Fubuki and Ryo and Fujiwara-kun (never quite as familiar with him as they were with one another) the inseparable elite of the elite.

Or at least, inseparable until Yusuke gave in to his obsessions, and even vaguely thinking about it is enough to make him flinch and slide backwards another few steps. Away from the chattering group, who are still thanking Judai (who looks awkward about the whole thing) and all but clinging to one another. Eventually moving out into the cool night air, feeling a little calmer, a little more centred, as the dark and the quiet surround him.

If Fubuki knew, he'd worry; Yusuke knows this as absolute fact. Can easily imagine Fubuki wrapping a hand around his wrist and yanking him back into the light and the warmth and the bustle of that room, and maybe he'd rest his chin on Yusuke's shoulder, his eyes wide and earnest while he whispers, "You're okay now, right? Everything's okay?" And Yusuke would, of course, smile and agree because that is the only response that wouldn't worry anyone, and it's not like it's a lie. Not completely, at least. Because he is fine. He's himself again. But after the Darkness --after that soothing, all-enveloping, quiet-- everything, especially someone like Fubuki, just seems so chaotic and loud and almost painfully bright.

So he closes his eyes and breathes deep; planning on slipping back inside just as unobtrusively as he left after a few minutes. No one will notice his absence, after all. Not for a while. Yusuke standing perfectly still and focusing on nothing more than the low rasp of his own breathing and the steady thudding of his heart in his chest.

Until he realizes that he isn't quite alone.

The boy is tucked into the shadows, but too pale to blend very well. Aiming a mocking smile in Yusuke's direction and even though they've never met Yusuke still knows him. Knows everything about him because the Darkness made it Its business to know. Had wanted to personally take this boy that the Light (Its equal, Its opposite, Its enemy) had touched but there hadn't been time. But It (they) paid close attention when Trueman ripped Edo Phoenix's heart wide open and urged him to give into every bit of pain, every bit of doubt, every bit of darkness there. And there had been so much (so very much for someone that the Light had wanted so badly) the agony of being alone, the hatred from being lied to, the terror of failing everyone who's ever needed him.

Yusuke can almost taste it, like fresh blood on the tip of his tongue and he knows he's staring but he can't help himself. Edo's mocking smile twisting into something a touch more caustic and when he hisses, "What, can you still look into my soul you son of a bitch?" Yusuke flinches and glances away. Muttering, "No," after a moment and almost immediately there is a low chuckle in return.

"You did, though. Didn't you?" Edo's icy sneer giving way to something that could be considered curiosity, and Yusuke simply nods and murmurs, "The Darkness did, yes."

"And you remember what you saw." It's an accusation, not a question, and once again all Yusuke can do is nod and reply, "I do."

There's a moment of quiet contemplation as Edo considers this fact before the sneer comes back in full force. Edo's eyes sparking with frozen fire as he hisses, "Why me? Them, I understand. You have a personal connection to Hell Kaiser and that idiot Tenjoin. And everything comes down to Judai eventually. But that doesn't explain me." An almost bitter laugh bubbling past Edo's lips as he adds, "I'm not a part of that little charmed circle of theirs."

"Which is why you're out here?" Yusuke can't help but ask and somehow the glare being aimed in his direction manages to turn even more deadly. A sigh eventually puffing past his lips as he explains, "For the same reason that It used your friend Saiou Takuma. It had a perverse interest in the ones that the Light touched. Nothing more, nothing less. The only reason I remember is because It focused on you so intently."

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"They," Edo begins, gesturing vaguely towards the brightly lit room a few feet away, "will believe you when you say that because they're a pack of gullible idiots."

"And you?"

"I think you know."

For a moment, Yusuke is tempted to turn away and forget this entire conversation. To head back inside and (drift uncomfortably around the edges some more) see if Fubuki is ready for that talk he wants to have yet. But then, he isn't a part of that charmed circle any more than Edo is. Even when it had just been the circle of himself and Fubuki and Ryo he'd never really felt a part of it.

"Your pain was familiar to me," he finally blurts, turning away from Edo slightly. "Not the same. Just, a little bit familiar on some distant level. That's… why I remember it so clearly."

Edo studies him carefully for a moment before giving the slightest of nods. And when Fubuki comes outside a few minutes later (looking for Yusuke because he's just noticed the absence and can't help but be worried) he finds Yusuke standing almost shoulder to shoulder with Edo. The pair of them looking quietly out into the black.