Title: Unseen Friends
Characters: Hane Kuriboh, Elemental Heroes
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 813
Genre: Angst||Rated: G
Prompt: GX Month 2022, day #4, you and me
Notes: During s2, after Juudai's second duel against Edo and before he leaves the island.
Summary: Even though Juudai can't see them, his Duel Spirits can see him, and Hane Kuriboh especially is very worried about him.

Juudai! Juudai! Hane Kuriboh beat his wings as hard as he could against Juudai's head. His person didn't always notice when he did that, especially if Juudai happened to be asleep at the time, but more often than not, he at least brushed the feathers away, and since he started to see spirits on a more regular basis, he'd always offered his tiny fuzzy partner a warm smile.

But not this time. Now Juudai slumped on the edge of the cliff, his head tucked down, his eyes closed. He didn't even twitch no matter how much Hane Kuriboh shouted or smacked. It was even worse than it had been before, when that tiny thread that bound them together hadn't been strong enough for the boy to see him.

At least then he'd heard Hane Kuriboh voice. He'd been aware of the love of his spirits, no matter what. Now he just sat there. Now whenever he looked at his cards - well, Hane Kuriboh wasn't certain of what he saw, but it wasn't them.

A gentle hand brushed against his back and he flicked around to see Featherman standing there. Many was the interesting night they'd spent discussing wing care with one another. He wasn't the only on who stood there. Burst Lady did as well, and Sparkman and Clayman and everyone else in Juudai's deck.

"He can't see or hear us," Burst Lady murmured, regarding Juudai quietly. "The Light of Ruin is inside of him - only a small sliver, but enough to keep him away from us."

Hane Kuriboh trilled softly, looking back to Juudai. Normally hearing or seeing all of his deck talking to him would have been cause for a celebration for days - probably by dueling. Most of the time, he was the only one free to talk to Juudai. As his power grew stronger, that would change, of course. He would be able to see and hear them whenever he wanted.

Juudai? Hane Kuriboh butted his head against the back of Juudai's head again. And once again, there wasn't any response at all.

"He needs help that we can't give him." Featherman declared. "And there's no way that we can tell him how to do it."

Hane Kuriboh glanced quickly back at the Elemental Hero of the Wind. How? Every spirit knew about the Light of Ruin and the Gentle Darkness. Even the Ojamas - though Hane Kuriboh suspected that they pretended not to, since the existence of the Great War terrified virtually anyone who heard about it in the first place.

Who can? Hane Kuriboh murmured, settling down to rest on Juudai's head. Perhaps his person couldn't hear him or see him, but it would make Hane Kuriboh himself feel a lot better.

"The Neo-Spacians. He created them a very long time ago. They're kindred of ours - distant, but kin all the same." Clayman rumbled, voice deep and rough as always.

"We intended to let him know about them soon. The Light of Ruin has been growing a great deal stronger lately. But we didn't get the chance." Featherman shook his head. "And now we can't at all."

Hane Kuriboh stared up at Juudai. So many words wanted to be said, but he wasn't sure about any of them. If only he could say something to Juudai, give him some kind of support or help or something.

No matter what happened, he wasn't going to abandon Juudai. He knew some spirits who might waver on their humans if the human couldn't see or hear them anymore, but he wasn't one of them. He would remain loyal. Juudai needed him.

And Juudai would find them again. This couldn't last forever - it wouldn't last forever. If Hane Kuriboh had to go find these "Neo-Spacians" himself and get them to wrench the Light out of Juudai's head, then that was what he would do.

Juudai moved, and for a few seconds Hane Kuriboh pulsed with hope that his person had heard him or seen him or something. But Juudai only got up and slumped his way down the cliff to the Osiris Red building. Hane Kuriboh trilled softly, fluttering after him.

"Be careful if you stay too near him for now," Burst Lady told him. "The Light can't do much more to harm him but if it could somehow get into your card through him, it would be almost impossible to get rid of."

I don't care. Hane Kuriboh declared, flapping his wings harder. He's my person! Our person! We have to stay with him!

If they couldn't do it, than he would. Humans didn't know what was going on. They barely seemed to grasp that anything at all had changed with Juudai beyond the shock of having lost a duel. But Hane Kuriboh would be there, no matter what, for as long as Juudai needed him.

The End

Notes: Imagine how Hane Kuriboh's going to feel during s3. Poor flying fluffball.