Series: Paladin's Quest||Title: Rebirth of Kaiser
Characters: Ryou, Yuusuke||Ship: N/A
Chapter: 3/30||Words: 6,234
Genre: Drama, Friendship||Rated: PG-13
Challenges: Diversity Writing Challenge: YGO GX: canon: K5, 20+ chapters; Slots: 2,000-67,000, 1st person past tense, rated T, reincarnation, gen-fic; One Character Boot Camp, Marufuji Ryou, #44, fade; Epic Big Bang
Notes: N/A

Juudai slung his pack over his shoulder and stared at the path that lay ahead of him. He'd gone this way many times over the last few years, but there was always the same sense of worry, that something would be different this time.

He wasn't always sure if 'different' would be good or not. He knew better than anyone else that different could end up very good indeed. But some changes…

Some he didn't really want to think about a lot. Some brought tears. Some brought nightmares, even after all this time.

Juudai.

Yubel's warning tone got him going, as it usually did. He'd never asked why Yubel wanted to check on Hell Kaiser the way that they did. There was a flicker in their awareness, something that he thought of as responsibility, if that was even the right thing to call it.

Maybe Yubel would tell him one day. If it ever was important enough so that they would.

The closer that they got to the village – which he still hadn't asked the name of, even after five years – the more Juudai could feel another presence around there somewhere. That wasn't very surprising, all things considered. Anywhere he visited regularly, people started to keep an eye on, just to see what he was doing.

No one called him Haou anymore, not in this world. Here he was the Herald, the Herald of the Gentle Darkness. Not much of a name change, but just about everyone who called him that knew the Herald and the Haou were one and the same.

Names were important. Calling someone the wrong name, he'd learned, could be as hurtful as a slap to the face, or the final strike of a duel.

Which was one of the reasons he hadn't talked to Shou about who he went to visit every now and then. Shou needed to know. He'd figured that out ages ago. But until the card could be created, until he knew the new name…

Until he knew a lot more than had actually happened yet, then Juudai had to admit to himself that he didn't know what to tell any of them.

He could feel Yubel's fingers on his head and wasn't surprised a breath later to feel their hand whack against his. The message remained plain: not to stand there grumbling but to get moving on the trip.

So that was what he did. He strolled along the pathway until he could see the wall around the village. It still looked pretty new; built of local rock instead of the wooden palisade the first time he'd seen it, a year or two before he'd brought Ryou here. He didn't recognize the guards out today, which wasn't always that often.

By the time he got to the gate, the local boss in charge stood there: Command Angel. As always, the angel stood at rigid attention, shoulders thrown back, wings at a perfect angle.

"Greetings, Herald!" The words cracked out as if Command Angel expected to be judged on their loudness.

Which wasn't too much of a surprise. There'd been a time when they might have been.

Juudai just grinned and waved. It was good to see at least some people were doing better from those days. Command Angel hadn't been very highly ranked back then, and probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. Being the leader of this village was a lot better for her.

"Nice to see you again," he said, eyes flickering here and there. It was pretty easy to guess that Ryou wasn't around at the moment. Whenever he was when Juudai showed up, he always turned up in the first few minutes.

"We suspected you'd come soon," Command Angel replied, shoulders and wings slowly easing off. "We've had a proper dinner made."

Juudai wrinkled his nose. "You don't have to do that." He wouldn't turn down food, of course, but he would have much preferred if they didn't make it as if it were expected of them.

Before Command Angel could say another word, one of the little fairies – Pixie Guardian – slipped up closer, bobbing in the air at him.

"Herald, sir, Ryou is out over in the clearing. You know the one, don't you sir?" Pixie Guardian let out a tiny giggle. "I made sure he wasn't on the roster for today."

Juudai blinked at that for a heartbeat before he nodded. He knew which clearing the other meant. "Thanks! We'll be back for dinner later."

He headed first over to where he'd drop his bag for a while. He had an item or two in there he knew Ryou would want – at least he hoped Ryou would want it.

Still weird to think of him as Ryou anyway. He'd always been Kaiser or Hell Kaiser, up until he wasn't anymore. But Yubel insisted now. It was the whole 'names' thing: until either his card granted him a new name or he'd recalled his proper strength and title, he was Ryou and no one else.

But after five years, he was at least sort of getting used to it. He didn't know any other Ryous to confuse this one with, after all. Not quite like other Kaisers. Shou didn't use that name to the point his brother did – had – but it was still his just as well.

Juudai dropped the bag off in the cave he usually stayed in while he visited here. Pharaoh poked his head out of it, sniffed, and then curled himself up on top. As long as no one offered him any fish, he would be a good guard cat. And even better…

Daitoukuji-sensei shimmered into visibility on a rock a short distance away. "You should go find him," he suggested. "He has to know, you know."

Juudai blew air out. This was one of the things he didn't especially find himself fond of doing, but it needed to be done, especially in this case.

"I know. Keep an eye on things for me?"

"Of course!"

Juudai waved briefly before he headed out of the village again. It wasn't likely someone would try to steal his things, but if they tried, Daitoukuji-sensei would let him know who dared. It wouldn't even be close to the first time.

No sooner were they out of sight of the village, than Yubel appeared next to him. They didn't say anything, but there wasn't much of a need. He knew what was on their mind as well as they knew what was on theirs.

From the village itself was a relatively short walk – at least for him – to the western horizon, scattered about here with a dozen or so small clumps of trees, bushes, and rocks. Trickles of water made their way through the area as well, just wide enough for him to jump over them. He scrambled for his balance once or twice, before he finally reached the far side, the thickest thicket yet, and when he crossed through that, the trees thinned out and the valley itself opened up before him.

This was a wetter place than the main village area, which was why the village itself had been built where it had been and not here. A much larger stream encircled the valley, with a long slab of rock in the very center of it.

He looks so peaceful. It would take Juudai a long, long time to really match the memories of the person he'd met when he was fifteen to the fierce, unyielding Hell Kaiser who'd brought such pain to other people and the later ones when he'd softened from his experiences and his first taste of death.

It would take even longer to match all of those memories with who he saw there now: a man who still looked older than Juudai himself, but with less than a handful of years in his memories, with the kind of buried strength held deep within, waiting for the right moments to bring it out again.

The brother of his best friend, the warrior still famed even now for having defeated Haou – even if he really hadn't, not the way most people who'd heard the stories that it worked out – the one known once as Hell Kaiser.

Juudai wasn't certain if Ryou heard him or felt him or what. But as he got closer, Ryou sat up and turned toward him.

"Juudai."

His voice hadn't changed at all, not if you knew what to listen for. But there were changes: this wasn't a man who remembered the taste of death. Juudai wouldn't go so far as to think of him as innocent - he suspected if he even brought up the subject, then Ryou would remember in far more detail than he really needed to how not innocent he really was.

"Ryou." Juudai slipped down onto the rock next to him. "How have you been doing?"

He wasn't all that good at small talk, especially in this situation. But he would try his best, at least for now.

Ryou shrugged, the slightest tipping of his shoulders. "Not much changes here." His gaze brushed against Juudai's. "What about you?"

There were lots of questions that Ryou hadn't ever asked him. Juudai suspected that he would get to doing so sooner or later. You couldn't go on forever without knowing who you are.

Or who you were.

Juudai knew that one right down to the core of his own soul.

He considered before he answered, though, if only for a few moments. He could feel Yubel's pressure against him; they wanted this to be told as soon as possible. He knew Daitoukuji-sensei felt the same way. So did he, really. It was just making the words.

"I've been talking to people," he said at last. "Remember I told you about humans and card spirits?"

Ryou nodded, a hint of curiosity visible now. Juudai hadn't told him everything, only about different worlds and how humans lived in some and spirits lived in others, and this world was one of those where both lived.

Juudai pressed his lips together. "A friend of mine, a human, wants to come and live here." His heart beat a bit faster at this. "I was hoping that you could help him adjust here."

Ryou tilted his head just the tiniest of bits. "Why me?" He didn't sound upset, at least not as far as Juudai could judge. But it had always been hard to read Ryou's emotions.

At least for Juudai. He'd always had a lot of problems reading anyone else's emotions.

He brought his attention back quickly. He knew the real answer, but it wasn't one that he could give away just yet. Instead, he rubbed the back of his head and offered a grin.

"I think you two are going to get along, that's all. He doesn't have a lot of real friends back home. Never had the knack of it. But you two..." Juudai shrugged. "Call it a hunch?"

Ryou stared at him to the point Juudai almost expected him to say something that he shouldn't have just yet. Finally he shrugged. "I don't make friends well either."

That was true enough, and something that seemed to fit no matter what Ryou would check under 'species'. Juudai couldn't even begin to hold back his laughter.

"Doesn't matter. If you two don't get along, I can find somewhere else for him to live. But try it?"

There were people who would gladly have done so just because he'd asked them to. His word wasn't law here, but people had a tendency not to want to get on his bad side. But Ryou considered the question before he nodded.

"All right. When will you bring him here?"

"Next week." Juudai declared, hopping back to his feet. "He's got to finish up some things before he can come."

After all this time, Juudai had managed to learn a few tricks, such as not talking too much when he had a secret to keep. It really hadn't been that hard, but given what this would lead to, if everything worked out the way that he hoped, he didn't want to spoil the game this soon.

To Be Continued

Notes: You have no idea of how much I'm looking forward to next week. Or especially the week after.