A Jagged Gorgeous Winter
Summary: Kamen Rider Ryuki. "You weren't fighting me with your full strength, were you?" "Answering that with a yes or no would be bad for me." Ren wasn't necessarily talking about answering Shinji. (In which friendship frightens Ren in a way the rider battle never could.)
Author's note: I'm on a bit of a Ryuki high at the moment.
Disclaimer: It's…not mine? I claim no ownership for batman and long-haired dragon warrior.
Ren stared at the ceiling, unsure of the cause of his sudden onset insomnia. If he wanted to brush off the problem, he could easily say it was because Shinji was snoring so loud he could keep all of Japan awake, but needless to say he had grown accustomed to it to the extent where if he focused on the faint ticking of the downstairs clock he could easily block out the other rider.
He reached out his hand above him and flexed his fingers. Did he really want blood on them?
Ren shook his head as though he could clear it from the sudden onslaught of uncertainty and fear. Just earlier that day Shinji fought him for the first time—as in, actually fought him. But when it came down to it he couldn't bring the sword down, and what's worse is that Ren knew he couldn't do it but he sat there and watched him anyway.
Maybe if he weren't so cruel he would have leapt at his throat, because if Ryuki was backed into a corner and then killed him out of self-defense he wouldn't be so torn up on the inside. Shinji hid it well, and Ren had to give him credit for that. He knew what it was like to be so close to winning only to be stopped by your own hand.
"Earlier, you weren't fighting with your full strength, were you?"
If he had said no, Shinji would know Knight had a soft spot for him. He could then exploit that weakness.
If he had said yes, Shinji would know just how weak Knight was. If Ryuki could beat him once, he certainly could beat him again.
Ren rolled over, pulling his covers over his shoulders and burying his face into the pillow. How come it was that Ren didn't even know the answer?
Of course, Shinji was too soft to exploit a weakness, no matter how much it may benefit him. He wasn't lying when he told Kitaoka that Shinji was a better man than either of them.
Yeah, answering that question certainly would have been bad for him.
He probably wasn't talking about Shinji.
Probably.