The pool was quiet in the early morning, occupied only by the exercise-keen. Ryo pushed off the side for a final length. His lungs objected. He ignored them. Two more lengths each day, that was the rule. Not one that had been imposed by doctors – they had said to do only what he could manage without strain – but Ryo liked to see the numbers tick up.

Victorious, he pulled himself out of the pool and sat on the side to take a few breaths. He swept the wet hair back from his face as he watched the other swimmers, studying their speed and form and stamina. No Olympians here. Ryo judged his own performance as above average. He would do better next time.

Ryo headed for the showers. Not that there was enough cold water in the world to freeze out the memory of Judai's body from yesterday, but he could at least get rid of the smell of chlorine. He lathered and scrubbed, paying careful attention to make sure he covered every inch.

He tied his hair back, planning to use the dryer back in the room rather than the lower-powered ones at the pool, and dressed. The gentle scent of shampoo followed him out.

As Ryo left the stairs on the floor to their rooms, he saw Asuka emerging, gym bag in hand. He nodded to her. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she replied with a short bow, before heading past him to the stairs. Ryo looked after her. It had been a long time since they'd stood on the dock together, but to think that their relationship had deteriorated to this level of formality was still a surprise. Fubuki, after all, had if anything become more clingy.

"Asuka!" Ryo called after her retreating back. She turned.

"Yes?"

"Do you have a moment?"

She looked at her bag, and back at Ryo, considering. "I was hoping to beat the rush, but I could spare a few minutes. What do you need?"

"I'd like your advice, if you're willing."

After a moment Asuka's expression softened into a smile. "Of course. Would you like to find somewhere private?"


Ryo and Asuka looked out to sea. The hot tub area was behind them, but it was thankfully deserted in the cold morning air. Asuka had offered her room but Ryo didn't want to risk sparking gossip, and so there they were, Ryo leaning on the rail, and Asuka with her arms crossed beside him. She looked at him with apologetic confusion.

"You know, if it's love advice you're after, you're really better off speaking to my brother."

"Not a chance." Ryo grimaced. "He'd never let it go."

"Well, I'll do my best, but I'm hardly an expert."

"I don't want you to be an expert," said Ryo. "Just be human."

"Okay," Asuka sighed. "So, let's break it down. There's someone you like. You've been spending a lot of time with them, and you're not sure but you think they like someone else, but even if there's a possibility of them liking you back you'd rather they not say anything."

"That's about the shape of it," said Ryo flatly.

"But you're still wondering whether you should tell them."

"Yes."

"Why, if you don't want a relationship?" Asuka frowned.

Ryo bit his lip, thinking how to phrase his answer. "It seems to me like if I'm having certain thoughts about someone, it's inappropriate for me to keep it from them. They should have a choice whether or not they want to spend time with me, in light of that knowledge."

"Ryo, that's very noble of you," Asuka gave a weary smile. "But people don't work like that. Ignorance is bliss here, I think."

"I don't wish to build friendship on false pretences."

"It's not false pretences, it's caring for the other person." Asuka leant down on the rail next to Ryo, and spoke softly. "Perhaps, as an example… Since I first got to know Manjoume, it was obvious he had feelings for me, even before he started confessing in public." She coloured at the memory. "We became friends, eventually, but it might have happened quicker had I not been aware of those feelings."

"Then his honesty made no difference to the end result."

"Ryo… Honesty is saying that's an interesting t-shirt, and I wasn't aware that was your taste."

Ryo had forgotten he was wearing the yellow monstrosity in public. "It was for the gym. Please don't tell Fubuki you saw me in it."

"I won't." Asuka laughed. "Anyway, honesty sometimes has to give way to tact. If Manjoume hadn't said anything I still wouldn't have gone out with him, but I would have felt more comfortable being around him and I think our friendship would have been the stronger for it."

Ryo, unconvinced, studied the horizon.

"I've had one or two admirers," Asuka continued. "Personally, I wish each of them had kept their mouth shut."

Ryo smiled at that. "And have you yourself ever… confessed?"

"Me?" Asuka looked away, her hair obscuring her expression. "No."


Sho was in the shower when Ryo returned to their room. Ryo pulled the hairband from his ponytail. His hair had kinked where it had been tied back. He did what he could with the hairdryer but, short of washing it again, he seemed stuck with it.

There was a knock at the door. Ryo took advantage of the peephole, and opened the door straight after. "Judai. Good morning."

"Oh, Kaiser… Is Sho there?" Judai forced a smile too late. Ryo had already taken note of his unnerved expression.

"He is," Ryo indicated the bathroom, "but I don't know how long he'll be. Would you like me to pass on a message?"

"No, no, it's fine." Judai waved a hand airily. "Just be careful today, okay?"

"Be careful? What of?" Ryo watched Judai intently.

"It's probably nothing, don't worry about it." Judai's eyes slid off Ryo.

"Are you coming ashore today?" Ryo asked. "I don't much fancy the 'Casanova tour', but I would like to see the town." He left the invitation hanging.

"Probably." Judai fiddled with the cuffs of his old red uniform jacket. "I've got some stuff to do though, people to see. You know how it is."

"In Venice." Ryo said. It was confusing him how differently Judai was acting from the previous night, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had done something wrong.

"Yeah." Judai smiled nonchalantly. "By the way, nice t-shirt, Kaiser! Dark Magician's a good choice."

Ryo looked down, cursing Fubuki's taste yet again, and when he looked back up Judai had set off down the corridor at quite a pace.

"See you later!" Judai called back, waving.

Ryo shut the door, ditched the t shirt, and started to cram cards into his deck box.


Judai was nowhere to be seen when they disembarked. Sho looked disappointedly back at the metal steps.

"He probably left earlier," said Ryo. "I saw him this morning, and he said he had things to do."

"Really?" Fubuki stared at Ryo. "He didn't say anything to me."

"He called for Sho, actually," Ryo said pointedly.

"He did?" Sho's head whipped around. "What did he say?"

"That was about it," said Ryo.

"I'm sure he'll catch up with us sooner or later." A sudden cold breeze made Asuka pull her jacket tighter around herself. "I'll text him to let him know where we're going."

The vaporetto was full, and tourists jostled for space at the window. Fubuki and his selfie stick leant dangerously over the rail to get a picture of the group with the Grand Canal as a backdrop. Candy-striped poles sprung from the dark waters, tethering covered boats and empty gondolas. Colourful shuttered houses fronted, water-damaged, onto floating launches and narrow streets. As they neared Piazza San Marco the buildings brightened with flags and new coats of paint, and banners for cultural events. As the canal widened, the campanile came into view, its colours a subdued echo of the country's flag.

"This is our stop!" called Fubuki, holding his selfie stick in front of him as a marker.

"I think it's everybody's stop," said Sho. They dutifully followed Fubuki, stopping to group up a few paces away from the landing, letting the crush of the crowd dissipate around them.

"So what's first?" Manjoume asked.

"Well, we've got timed tickets for the Basilica," Fubuki said, "so let's climb the Campanile first. We've seen Venice from the water, now we see it from the air!"

"I'll leave you to it," said Ryo. "I'd like to walk around."

"Oh, would the steps be too taxing?" Fubuki's expression of concern melted into something else. "We could come with you, we don't have to do the climb… Or do you have a secret rendezvous?"

"Actually, yes." Ryo waited for Fubuki's victorious smile before he continued. "I have a date with a dusty old bookshop where I intend to spend the morning working up a thirst for excellent coffee."

Fubuki pouted. "At least pick up a romance, then. Look at where we are."


Ryo felt somewhat guilty for leaving Asuka in the dubious care of Fubuki and Manjoume, but the feeling soon passed as he and Sho left the tumult of the tourist area and hit the back streets. The sun arrived at the narrow pavements softened and filtered by the buildings around them, and the easy swish of water calmed Ryo's soul. Every so often they would cross a small wooden bridge towards the scent of something delicious, and Ryo might indulge Sho with a hot chocolate or small pastry.

They found the bookshop after about two hours of pleasant meandering. Second hand or twenty-seventh, books were piled chaotically in boats, bathtubs, buckets and barrows, a precaution against high waters which had claimed the lives of their former companions.

All life was there, in histories and languages, in cookery and fashion, in crime and erotica. The smell of old paper mingled with the damp of the walls and settled on Ryo's fingers as he examined the stacks.

A strange sound came from the street outside the shop, garbled and electronic, followed by a boom that shook the shop. Ryo grabbed Sho's hand and ran for the fire exit. It led straight to the canal but that was better than staying. Another explosion. A shelf stack toppled over in front of them, blocking the way. Sho started digging through the books to get through. Ryo looked around. The bathtub next to them, piled half way to the ceiling, was teetering on its unsteady base.

"Sho! We can't risk getting stuck here!" Ryo shouted over the confusion. "We have to get up those stairs."

"We don't know what's out there!" Sho shouted back. "It could be terrorists!"

The bathtub fell as the next blast hit, its cargo flung across the cluttered room. "Sho! Are you hurt?"

Sho emerged from the pile clutching his right arm. "I'm fine. Let's go!"

"Be careful!" Ryo urged as he pushed Sho up the steps. They too were made of books, and becoming as structurally unsound as the rest of the shop.

Sho hesitated at the top, his head only emerging into the street, and scanned the area. People were running and screaming in all directions. The air was dark and thick with a strange reddish colour.

Another blast hit, and this time Ryo saw the beautiful, impossible, terrible source. Rainbow Dragon.

"Johan?" said Sho. "No, it can't be…"

"It's not," said Ryo quietly, indicating the figure in the strange mask atop the building opposite. "And that's no hologram."

The dragon sent another blast of fire down the street. The brothers ducked.

"Marufuji Sho!" the figure called, his voice piercingly amplified even in the chaos.

"What?!" Sho hissed incredulously. "I've never seen this guy in my life, what does he want with me?"

Ryo pulled Sho's head down beneath street level.

"Marufuji Sho!" the shout came insistently. Rainbow Dragon prepared to attack one more. "Give me Cyber End Dragon, or I will destroy this city to take it from you!"

"Cyber End?" Sho pushed his glasses up his nose. "So this is a challenge? I wasn't expecting another so soon, and brother, you still have Cyber End…"

Ryo was already pulling the contraband duel disk from his bag and setting it firmly on his arm. "Sho, this is dangerous. I'll handle it."

"No, this is my task now." Sho pulled down the hem of his jacket and exhaled, prepared to leave.

Ryo put his arm out to stop Sho. "Stay safe."

"No!" Sho shouted, but Ryo was already striding across the street, backed by tongues of flame from the destroyed buildings. He slammed his deck into place.

"My name is Marufuji Ryo," he shouted to the rooftop. "Your business is with me."


"-ser?" The voice cut in through the ringing nothingness. "Kaiser Ryo?"

Ryo tried to open his eyes and failed. He concentrated instead on checking for feeling in the different parts of his body. It hurt, but it was the ache of bruises and sprains, not fire in his heart or lungs. "Sho?"

"It's Judai." Ryo felt himself being lifted, his shoulders cradled in someone's knees.

"Where's Sho?"

"He's not here," Judai said. Ryo struggled to get up but Judai's arms, and his own weakness, kept him where he was.

"My phone…" Ryo managed to get his eyes open and lifted a painful arm to go for his pocket.

"It's smashed, I'm afraid," said Judai, looking intently down at Ryo. "I've tried to ring him on mine, but I can't get through. I'm sure he's fine. The network's just down."

"He was here with me," Ryo pointed a finger back at the bookshop. It was a wreck now, bricks piled haphazardly where they had hidden.

"They evacuated a lot of people, he might be with them."

Ryo struggled to stand again. "This morning, when you came to see him. Did you know this would happen?"

Judai shook his head sadly. "I'd hoped to prevent it."

"Then you know. About Rainbow Dragon."

"Yes."

"He took Cyber End, too."

"I'll get it back, I promise." Judai took Ryo's hand and squeezed softly.

"This isn't your fight, Judai." Ryo sat up, reluctantly. "Once I find Sho, I'll deal with it myself."

"Then we'll see who gets there first." Judai gave an easy grin.

"You're on." Ryo smiled back. "Though I admit I may need your help once more."

"Of course," Judai winked, slipping an arm under Ryo's shoulders and helping him to his feet.


As this is a giftfic, criticism is not requested at this time.