A/N – more cameos here, rather more prevalent. And a very angry Ryo, and a Ryuga who... well, you'll find out.
Chapter 4 – New Things
The door to the basement was only a couple of steps down the hall, and the handle was curiously dusty, as if it hadn't been used in a very long time. Ryuga knocked twice, paused, then twice more, paused, then one final time. Yuu's sharp ears could just about pick out the sounds of rustling cloth coming up the stairs, though no footsteps.
"Who is it?" The voice had a strange echo to it, as though it was coming from down a valley rather than from behind a door.
"Ryuga."
"I know that." The voice sounded almost exasperated. "I can smell your blood from here, dragon-boy. Who's with you?"
Yuu took an automatic step away from the door. This was beginning to freak him out, even more than the rest of the day so far had.
"His name is Yuu Tendo. He's visiting. I said I'd introduce you."
"We're not tourist attractions," came the disgruntled mutter from behind the door, but it opened nevertheless to reveal a tall, aristocratic man with grey hair marked with a streak of red like a flame. He was dressed from head to foot in a long green and black robe, and had it not been for the fact that his eyes were glowing deep red, he could have been mistaken for someone trying out – badly – for a part in a horror movie. As it was, Yuu would have given him the lead villain role at once.
"That's him?" His red eyes scanned over Yuu like he was a menu.
There was a slight scuffling in the darkness at the bottom of the steps and suddenly another man, this one with steel-blue hair, loomed over the other's shoulder. His eyes had also settled into a deep glow, but this one was blue instead of red, matching his hair. "Hmm. Bit small, isn't he?"
"Wouldn't even make an afternoon snack," said the red-eyed man, sounding terribly disappointed.
"Leave him alone," Ryuga growled, golden eyes flashing in the gloom and one gauntleted arm blocking the men from reaching Yuu. "He'd whip all four of you any day in the bey-dish."
Yuu's mouth fell open in delighted shock. He had never heard Ryuga praise anyone, let alone him, so highly. For a moment, he forgot Ryuga's betrayal, forgot the horrific dragon form in the dim dawn light of the final battle, forgot that Ryuga still might not be in complete control. All he could remember was the moment he'd first met the Dragon, when he'd known that here – finally – was an opponent worthy of all his power, and all his respect. The moment when he'd decided that, no matter what, he was going to be Ryuga's friend, his best friend.
"What'd you bring him here for, then?" the blue-haired man asked grumpily. "Sanguinex told you – we're not tourist attractions."
"No," Ryuga agreed. "But you are a vampire and a werewolf living in the basement of a small town house, along with a living mummy and a zombie. I'd expect some sort of curiosity if I were you, and he's not staying long so just put up with it."
"And we were here years before you were, little dragon, so don't think you can boss us around." This new voice seemed to wrap around the air and choke the life out of it. "Especially when you're not exactly all human yourself."
Yuu sidled to the right, putting Ryuga between him and the voice. "Ryuga? Who's that?" He hated how timid he sounded, but the voice was so creepy that he just wanted to get out of there. It was strange, but it was like the voice had a smell – a musty, dusty smell of things ancient beyond count, bound to a timeline with linen wraps.
"That's Cenotaph," Ryuga answered softly. "And yes, he is an Egyptian mummy. But he hardly ever comes out of the cellar, unless there's tea on offer."
That was beyond bizarre. "The mummy drinks tea?" His only answer was a shrug.
But before Yuu could see this mysterious mummy, there was a very loud knock at the door. Instantly, the blue-haired man bounded down the basement steps in a huge, wolf-like leap, whilst the body of the vampire seemed to just crumble away, leaving only the pile of green-black fabric on the top step. Ryuga slammed the basement door shut just as whoever it was outside knocked again, even louder.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Sora came out of the kitchen, scowling. "Give me a second to get there, won't you?"
He pulled the door open with a bang to reveal none other than Ryo Hagane himself in all his incandescent fury.
Yuu winced inwardly, terribly tempted to hide behind Ryuga as Ryo's dark gold eyes scanned the hallway, landing on him almost immediately.
"Yuu." His voice was cold with anger, and Yuu could have sworn that he saw the red flames of the Phoenix surrounding him. "Come with me at once."
Yuu took a tentative step forward, only to realise that Ryo and Ryuga had locked glares, neither pair of brilliant eyes backing down an inch.
"If I ever find you near any of my son's friends again, I will break L-Drago into so many pieces that even Madoka won't be able to fix it." Yuu couldn't believe the depths of the hatred in Ryo's voice. Yeah, sure, Ryuga had done a lot of damage, but after bringing Yuu safely back here and making sure he didn't end up as vampire snacks, and even letting him call home so that Ryo knew where he was, surely the Dragon deserved some thanks?
"You'd be dead before you managed to put a scratch on him, and you know it." But an equal loathing was hidden in Ryuga's voice, such a change from the almost-friendly behaviour from earlier. Yuu shivered. Could he have been wrong all along? It had happened once before, after all...
"Bye, Yuu!" called Ian from the kitchen as Yuu passed the door, once more waving the screwdriver at him. "See you around, kid!"
"Bye," Sora chimed in. "Hope you come back soon. Ryuga's nicer when you're here. Normally he'd have kicked Reiji's door down to get him to apologise for burning the sausages. Seriously, the amount of damage he does to this house, I'll be surprised if we even have enough to pay the rent after what we have to pay for repairs."
"Right..." Yuu wasn't quite sure what else he could say, standing on the doorstep as he was. "Um, bye, I guess." He dared to glance upwards. The two golden-eyed men were still glaring at each other. "Bye, Ryuga. Thanks for everything."
"You're welcome." Ryuga didn't even blink, unlike Ryo, who then tore his eyes from the Dragon to grab Yuu by the wrist.
"Have you any idea how worried we were about you?" he snapped as he propelled Yuu towards the old red car that was idling next to the curb. "Ryuga is very, very dangerous! You could have been very badly hurt! I know he's not controlled by L-Drago any more, but that doesn't mean you can trust him within a mile of you!" He opened the passenger door of the car. "Come on, we need to get you safely home."
"But... Ryuga looked after me..."
"That doesn't matter. You could have been very seriously hurt – remember what happened to Kyouya, Hikaru and Tsubasa? It could have been far worse. Now get in."
Yuu obeyed slowly, knowing that Ryo was worried more than angry – he hoped so, anyway. Automatically, he glanced back up at the house to see that Sora had yet to close the door, apparently making sure that Yuu was safe before turning back. Yuu felt a flare of thanks for the brown-and-gold haired blader who was so much nicer than the rest of his housemates. Sora reminded him of Kenta, in a way, and he hoped that he would get out of there sometime – it would be awesome to battle him someday.
Ryo dropped into the driver's seat and snapped his own seatbelt on very quickly. The car's old engine revved, and Yuu waved to Sora, who grinned back.
Then Yuu's eyes were drawn past Sora's shoulder to where the barely-visible figure of Ryuga stood, still just outside the basement door. Maybe Ryuga would take Sora with him when he left to go training, though Yuu couldn't really imagine someone as nice and easy-going as Sora following the Dragon anywhere, or Ryuga allowing it in the first place. Yuu shivered. Maybe Ryo was right. Maybe he had put himself in awful danger just because he wanted to believe that Ryuga wasn't as bad as people made him out to be... because Ryuga had been his friend.
Not, of course, that Ryuga had ever reciprocated that sentiment. Or that Yuu cared that he hadn't. It had just been one of those things that he knew was fundamentally right when it happened.
"After everything Gingka did to stop him, you went straight back to him? I thought you wanted to be out of the Dark Nebula!" Ryo snapped, bringing Yuu's attention back to him.
"It was Doji who..."
"You can't blame Doji for everything, Yuu."
"And you can't just blame Ryuga!" Yuu had no idea why he was reacting like this, except that it was mostly Ryo's fault that he had been left behind at home that day instead of going to the theme park, and Yuu had really been starting to enjoy himself at the house of forgotten bladers. Refusing to look at Gingka's dad any more, Yuu turned back to see Sora giving one final wave. And Ryuga...
There was no way he could have heard Yuu's last statement, but there could be no mistake.
Ryuga smiled at him.
It was unmistakable, even in the dim half-darkness of the hallway he was standing in. Not the cruel, smug smile that had been so characteristic of him in Battle Bladers. Not the evil grin he had sported when suggesting that he should introduce Yuu to the vampire downstairs. Not even the self-satisfied look he had worn the very first time that Yuu had met him.
No, this was a real, proper smile full of the same pride and nobility that Yuu had seen hidden under the surface in their one and only battle. It had been almost eclipsed by the creeping darkness of L-Drago, but Yuu had always had the ability to know if someone was a good blader, even a true blader, without battling them. He had known the first time he met Kenta and Benkei, and then again when he'd met Gingka, and then Tsubasa. And he'd known when he'd met Ryuga.
It was in their eyes, and it was Ryuga's eyes that had told the truth, filled with the fierce joy in battling to the edge of ability. The eyes of one who knew he was as one with blade and beast, and was master of all.
No matter that towards the end the red-eyed dragon had torn through. Yuu had seen the truth underneath, and had honoured Ryuga as a true blader with the best fight that he could possibly manage.
And now, at last, Ryuga was honouring him in return. And he did it with a smile.
A/N – again, the four in the cellar are from the original series of Beyblade, but they didn't seem to have a part important enough to mark this as cross-over, as all they're doing is providing a dramatic distraction whilst Ryo drives the car round, if a rather deadly one.