10 Words Part III

by Mahayana

#9 - Moon: Kiryu's body feels heavy. His cards lie scattered like leaves beside his fallen bike. He can hear the front wheel still spinning, a futile effort. He's not getting back up. Kiryu's fingers twitch. Yusei's face takes up the entirety of his vision as he leans over him. Picks Kiryu up like nothing, careful of his wounds. Yusei swallows. Tries to say his name. Kiryu smiles remembering why he liked Yusei so damned much. The guy's so fuckin' sincere.

Yusei wedges him between the seat and the duel disc on his own d-wheel. What is the idiot thinking? To drive him to a doctor's? Kiryu laughs when Yusei says he's going to save him. That they're friends.

So fuckin' dependable. What a moron. That trait's going to get him killed. Why is he trying so hard to save a dead man? He knows what happens to a Dark Signer when he loses—

He realizes that Yusei doesn't know. Thinks the duel is a draw. Kiryu fell off his bike, after all. Last time it was Yusei, and they both came out of the duel alive… Kiryu closes his eyes. The hope on Yusei's face is too bright. So fuckin' naive… Savior Star Dragon's last attack was not salvation; it was the kiss of a guillotine.

"Yusei… Ccapac Apu inflicts damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack power," he swallows. "I receive a total of 3800 points damage." The rest of his life points. He's going to die. Yusei's grip on his arm turns painful. Kiryu can't say if it's better this way.

#10 – Applause (Your choice): When he wakes up again Kiryu is alone. The last thing he remembers is dying in Yusei's arms. That would be the second time now. And he's still not dead. He's tired. He just wants to go back to sleep. His memories are hazy, but what he does remember is tainted with regret. He wishes a dark god would appear, devour his soul for good this time. He woke up at the exact spot he died at. Surrounded by garbage.

It is dawn, and the air is cold. He's only wearing a red t-shirt and jeans. He holds up his arm. The mark is gone. He supposes he should be happy. Though he doesn't quite know why. He's a free man now at least. Security won't be chasing a corpse. He can go anywhere he wants. Except that… he has nowhere to go. No one to go to. He closes his eyes and breathes in the asphalt dust around him. His cards—! He feels a lump in his pocket. His deck is slightly crimpled, a little bit singed, and not quite what he remembers, but still there. The relief drops like stones from his gut. Well, at least he has something.

The debris digging into his back and thighs is getting painful, so he forces himself to get up. To stand on his own two feet and walk. Walk to where… it doesn't matter, it'll come to him when he gets there. He doesn't want to think right now.

Author's Notes:

After I was about halfway through prompt #10, I realized that Carly didn't remember her time as a Dark Signer. Does that mean that all the Dark Signers had their memories wiped? But Kiryu's so full of angst and self-loathing, it wouldn't make sense for him not to remember. So I rewatched Crash Town, and yep. Kiryu totally started remembering the finer details of his duel against Yusei. Though how he ever ended up in Mexico(?) of all places… (Apparently he "went on a trip" and "came to in this town". Yep, that's what they called it…) Also, lol poncho.

I not-so-subtly yoinked these prompts from someone else's prompts list, who claimed they came from the 10iloveyou community on Livejournal, as the "Mystic" set. Oh crap, "10iloveyou"? Was I supposed to write romance? Whoops.