Series: Paladin's Quest||Title: Rebirth of Kaiser
Characters: Ryou, Yuusuke||Ship: N/A
Chapter: 7/30||Words: 14,444
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
I hope this works. Juudai knew Yuusuke wasn't happy on Earth. He'd never been properly happy there, no matter how hard he tried. Losing Ryou just made matters that much harder.
It will. Yubel assured him. Yubel didn't bother to appear; their warm voice echoed only in his mind. He understands what is necessary.
Juudai hoped that was true. Yuusuke had quite a few qualities and skills that would make this project work. Which didn't mean it would, just that it could.
"Herald-sama?" Command Angel approached. "May I speak with you?"
Juudai tilted his head. "Sure, what is it?" He could feel Yubel's awareness, but that wasn't surprising. Yubel made certain they were aware of everything going on around him. It was rather sweet.
"You never said exactly how he would be contributing to the village," Command Angel reminded him. "I presume he'll gain whatever it is he needs here, but what will he provide?"
Juudai grinned at that, a small little twitch of his lips and no more. "Well, I think you're going to have to ask him. He knows what he can do a lot more than I do. But you really don't have to worry about it. He'll be useful, I promise."
Yuusuke hadn't wanted him to tell anyone of his own skills, choosing to reveal what he could do at his own pace. Juudai absolutely understood that. Some things didn't need to be told right away.
Command Angel didn't look all that happy, though. She didn't press about the matter, eyes flicking away from him to where Ryou and Yuusuke could just barely be seen walking through the paths between the huts and homes.
"I'll speak to him soon about it then," she murmured. Juudai thought she sounded a touch more worried than she really had any right to be.
"Is everything all right?" If they needed some kind of special help, Juudai would check to see who he could get in touch with. Ever since he'd brought Ryou here, he'd kept a special eye on this village, keeping it as safe as he could manage without terrifying people.
If you told everyone it was under your protection, no one would bother anyone here.
Juudai knew that. Which was why he didn't do it; he'd rather people didn't hurt other people because they didn't want to, not because they were terrified of what he would do to them if they did hurt someone.
He could feel Yubel's amusement at that, and pulled his attention away from them in time to catch Command Angel's next request, after assuring him that everything was absolutely fine – and lying through her teeth about that, too.
"Sure, I can stay for dinner! Thanks!" He took his meals anywhere he could find them, from picking fruit off a tree to doing some hunting to crossing paths with someone who had some to spare or whatever would get him what he needed. He was pretty good at it after all these years.
Command Angel bent her head. "We're honored, then, Herald-sama."
A faint trickle of unease flickered all through him. Juudai wasn't sure of what to call it, only that coupled with the certainty that Command Angel was lying about whatever was going on around here, everything suddenly felt very wrong.
Chaos Hunter intended to return to the village before much longer, but she preferred not to stay there while he was there. She preferred not to even think his name while too close there.
He'd never specifically admitted to being able to read minds, but there had been plenty of those who served under him who were convinced down to their cores that Haou-sama could do just that, and there had been a few executed for crimes they'd not actually committed. Their surviving friends frequently admitted that they had thought about doing those crimes, however.
So, best to stay as far from there as possible. So far he didn't seem aware of her presence, and Chaos Hunter wouldn't have been surprised to find out Command Angel thought about her while too close to him. But better not to take chances, not when her potential revenge hung so very close to her.
At least she had something to occupy her time until he'd departed. Command Angel would get her information, but Chaos Hunter didn't want to wait for that. She needed another set of eyes and pair of hands, and she knew exactly where to find it.
He'd been seen around here, quite a fair distance from that village, but within her travel reach. Most people thought nothing of him, knowing next to nothing about what he'd done many years earlier.
Chaos Hunter knew better.
She stood hidden in the shadows cast by a rock formation, staring at the cave below her. There was a town out of sight where he popped up frequently to steal food and play whatever pranks crossed his thoughts on the people here. In her opinion, that was quite a comedown from what he'd done during the war.
She could wait for her revenge. Gathering her forces, getting information, and making plans kept her occupied for all of that. But standing here and waiting for one little irritating creature to return? That stressed her nerves more than she cared to admit.
There! Finally! Chaos Hunter refused to sigh in relief, but at least he'd finally shown up. He'd clearly made a good haul today, since he carried a large bag, out of which he dragged a round ripe gray-skinned fruit which he immediately chewed into. Chaos Hunter's stomach growled. She wanted some of that.
Her strike was quick, whip lashing against his shoulders, right next to his wings, and Dark Familiar dropped his bag, falling away, squeaking rapidly as he stared upward to where she approached.
"It's been such a long time, hasn't it?" Chaos Hunter asked, digging into the bag and pulling out a handful of berries. "You've been doing very well for yourself. What would your old master think of this?"
Dark Familiar stared at her, eyes rounded, before he replied, voice low and squeaky and terrified.
"What are you doing here?" There were few indeed he spoke to like this; normally only whoever he'd accepted as his master. Given what she'd seen, she suspected the last one of those to be Guardian Baou himself.
"Hiring you. Or if you want to be strict about it, telling you that you're going to work for me, because if you don't, I know several ways to dispose of you, and the only issue would be picking which one."
Chaos Hunter smiled as she spoke. She wasn't lying. Her current favorite option involved dragging Dark Familiar over to an old friend of hers – one she'd made after the war, one who had some interesting tastes and even more interesting abilities. One that would make dealing with Dark Familiar that much easier should it be required.
It would also be a great deal of fun.
Dark Familiar twitched, eyes shifting all around, searching for help that wasn't there and wouldn't be there. Chaos Hunter raised one hand.
"You have until the count of three to agree." She left off all the rest. He would understand what she meant.
"Why would you want me? Surely you have better options!" Dark Familiar squeaked.
Chaos Hunter brought down one finger.
"Spying could have killed me then! It's not much better now! They don't kill thieves...usually!" Dark Familiar started to reach for his bag, until she kicked him away from it.
And brought down the second finger.
"I could – I can – you -" Dark Familiar's fingers dug into the dirt beneath him before he finally crashed to his knees before her. "Chaos Hunter-sama."
He didn't sound all that thrilled about her new honorific. But she tapped him on one shoulder with the tips of her fingers.
"Good. Now, these are my orders: you know the village of Sunstride?"
Dark Familiar nodded. "I haven't been there in ages. They don't know me there."
Chaos Hunter suspected that he hoped that would mean she couldn't use him for whatever. He was quite wrong.
"I want you to go there and keep an eye on things for me. There are two in particular that I wish to be informed of. You'll have to watch to find them, but one is the one known as Hell Kaiser." She still hadn't learned all the details on that, but it was enough to get her new spy started. "The other will likely be a companion to him. Watch and see who he associates with. I'll return for more information in due time. And you had best have some for me."
Slowly Dark Familiar rose up, wings fluttering hard, and nodded. He reached for his bag of fruit and she was kind enough to let him have it.
"As you wish, Chaos Hunter-sama," he murmured, dipping into a quick bow before darting off out of sight. He would have gone faster without the fruit, but she didn't stop him. The longer he took, the more likely it was that Haou wouldn't be there when he actually arrived. That would make everything far more to her liking.
But now the thought of her old friend teased at the back of her mind. She hadn't seen Daemon Tamer in far too long, and it was definitely time to go renew old acquaintances.
Shou turned the letter over in his hands. Over the last couple of weeks he'd read it many times and he'd already taken care of answering it. That didn't mean he didn't keep reading it, trying to grasp the words more fully.
He'd spent the last several years of his life around Yuuki Juudai. He might not be able to see spirits, but even he could figure out some things when the right information hung so very close.
The letter came in an envelope with the Industrial Illusions seal on it. It had also been signed by Pegasus himself.
A simple couple of paragraphs; one offering sympathies for the loss of his brother – not even belated ones, just renewed ones – and then a simple, gentle request.
Would he be all right with a card to be crafted in his brother's image and in his honor? Getting it all detailed out would take time and it hadn't yet been decided if it would be mass produced or not. If it wasn't, then when the card existed, it would be mailed to him to keep if he so desired. It would also be legal to play in his deck if that suited him.
Juudai had been there the night his brother died. Shou had been too busy at the time to notice what he did, but he would never forget that Juudai who could see spirits had been there.
And now Fujiwara Yuusuke – also able to see spirits – had packed up everything he had and gone off somewhere as well. No one seemed to know where, or if they did, no one was telling Shou about it. He'd only managed to hear about it from Fubuki-san.
Shou came to a decision. He picked up his phone and dialed Juudai's number, not surprised in the slightest when there wasn't an answer and he had to deal with the voice mail.
"It's me, aniki," he said quietly. "I think there's something that we need to talk about. Come here whenever you can, please?"
He set his phone down and stared over at the small shrine on the far wall. He'd built it shortly after his brother's funeral, something he'd never thought he'd have to make. Most of the time he didn't even think about it anymore. It was a part of his life.
A single card rested before it. He only removed it from there when he had an important duel to fight, and not even always then. Only when that slight inner nudge said that it would be a good thing to do.
Carefully he picked it up. He couldn't see or hear spirits like some of his friends, but he'd frequently thought over the years that he could hear the strident, powerful cry coming from Cyber End Dragon.
To Be Continued
Notes: I think I want to call Chaos Hunter and Daemon Tamer Whipshipping.
