Chapter XXX

Duel Spirits

After a quick check in the infirmary, none of the students had any apparent wound, but the nurse recommended Rie and the other two students were abducted to rest in their rooms for at least a day given they seemed to be more exhausted than the others.

Daitokuji was smiling as he walked the Osiris red students back to the dorms, but neither of them were happy, instead, perplexed expressions overcame their joy of coming out as winners against Psycho Shocker.

Edo and Asuka were silent the whole way as he also walked her back to the female dorm before parting ways, even Ryou wasn't in his best mood, but he wouldn't tell Edo why. He thought it's best if they talk about it another time.

Inside the obelisk girl's dorm,

Rie's room

Ryou shoves the curtain aside, opening the double door to the balcony, a breeze making the cloth flutter soundly as fresh air enters the space, the fragrance of peach coming from the perfumed sheets of paper at the working desk in her room. His aloof gaze then lands on Rie who's sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard.

Her garments are a simple dress and stockings with horizontal stripes in black and white, she got changed after coming back. Her eyes are still somewhat lost on the shrivels of the blanket barely covering her feet, his steps halt, standing beside her.

The screen of her device flashing in front of him. "Are you sure it's fine to be here? This is the female dorm."

"The dorms are empty, plus someone had to bring you here," his tone is too calm even, but if it's Ryou she knows he wouldn't do anything improper. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not tired enough to sleep."

"Nurse Ayukawa said you need to rest," he flaps the blanket over her whole lap.

"What about you?"

"I'm fine, you should worry about yourself, we can talk more later."

His tune is the same as usual, but she feels a veiled annoyance in it as he turns around, his arm is bounced back slightly, fingers pinching his sleeve. Amused, he looks over his shoulder, to Rie's afflicted expression.

"Like I've said, you should rest first," he gently takes her hand off of him.

"I won't be able to sleep if you go now," she rebukes, her orbs wavering.

With a deep sigh, he reels a step back, nonchalantly sitting at the edge of the bed. "Did your memory come back?"

"Vaguely. I remember going to the library, then we were also chasing someone, but," her eyes squint as if she's forcing her brain hard to get a clear image. "I remember we had a fight."

"That's right. You were quite desperate there and I'd like to hear why."

"We were being chased by something, right?"

"Chased? No, we were the ones chasing, Psycho Shocker. He materialized in this world, do you remember that?"

"He…" her eyes wrench open as she types, the picture blurs in her mind, "Isn't Psycho Shocker the name of a monster card?"

"Yes, it's a bit of a complicated story, but some students were doing occult research and 'summoned' it to our world apparently. Was it the fact that Psycho Shocker was a spirit that made you so scared?"

"I don't know. But I felt you could be harmed," her fingers cling to the hem of his sleeve again.

"Harmed? Well, nothing happened to me as you can see," he omits the part of the duel in which his body was almost gone. "So why didn't you just tell me earlier? Are you aware you tried to kiss me to keep me in place? Do you really think that was the best you could come up with? Which kind of logic were you using there?"

"But If I told you out of the blue you'd be hurt if you followed him, you'd still go anyway, wouldn't you?"

"It's true I still went through with it, but you could have transmitted your worries back then instead of…"

"No! I couldn't! You'd just look at me as if I'm crazy, I didn't have anything else but my intuition, you'd not believe me!" her eyes become watery as she types, "I couldn't let you go knowing something bad would happen, I just didn't want you to get hurt! I don't know what I would do if you disappeared too."

Too?

Covering her eyes with her palms, she snivels softly. He should've realized sooner, Rie lost her mother last year, it was an accident, she must've felt someone abruptly was taken from her life, perhaps she's been feeling lonely this whole time, but got no one to talk about it. Averting his gaze to the ground, he continues:

"Rie, what made you think I'd not believe you? Who told you I don't believe in any of this? Did you hear it from someone, some other students who like to talk about my life?"

She's startled, denying it with her head, wiping her tears before typing. "No, but you didn't want to listen to me. I assumed it."

"Why did you not ask me directly then? I know people often say I'm an emotionless machine, but that doesn't mean I'm that skeptical that I wouldn't believe something right in front of my eyes. Why did you not talk to me first? Whenever there were rumors about you, I always tried to ask you first. Don't you think you should do the same?"

That's true, even though she was lying for a long time, Ryou always sought answers from her first, she's ashamed to not be able to do the same. Was he mad because of this? To have someone to talk to like this, maybe she isn't used to this. Most of the relationships she had so far were superficial to say the least.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd believe in such things."

"Why should I not? What makes you think I'd not believe in duel spirits or whichever supernatural stories you'd have to tell? Even if I didn't, I would like to hear it and know your opinion about it."

He sighs deeply, finally staring right into her eyes, he can see the wet trails on her skin shining under the sunlight and the small droplets hanging on her lashes, his thumb moving on its own to wipe it away from her face, stunning her, a feeble glint of sadness in his green orbs.

"Do you not trust me yet?"

"I…" her lips move unwittingly, unable to finish that sentence.

"I'd prefer if instead of apologizing you would avoid doing such reckless things. You know, I have feelings too," the last part comes off a tad bitter as supports his hands on the mattress. "I can't fault you for it all, I might not have been the most clear or given any sign I'd be fine talking about those topics… So it's fair you'd not feel comfortable bringing it up, but next time, try to speak to me before resorting to whatever you think is better."

Both his voice and gaze trail off in a resigned manner. Rie seems to have this paranoiac fear of being alone, and he doesn't know what else to do besides offering her company or if that's even a solution. He's quickly snapped out of his thoughts by a warm hand embroiling his own, going back on track.

"Have you ever seen a duel monster spirit, Rie? Besides Psycho Shocker, I mean…"

"I think I did see something. But I don't remember well,"

"Because I also saw it."

She casts a curious glance at him. "You too?"

His expression is unfazed, but she can tell he's reluctant in speaking about it. Despite that, he crusades through those fears, a trait of his that she found not only charming, but admirable.

"Since I was a kid, I could hear Cyber End's voice, I always had this feeling it was talking to me. And yesterday I saw it for the first time. Crystal clear, no holograms or tricks. I think it protected both of us."

"Protected? From what?"

"Psycho Shocker, he attempted to attack even after the duel was over," he can feel as the pores of her skin bristle at his tale, his hand wrapping on hers to soothe her uneasiness. "By the way, Rie, do you remember anything that happened then?"

Putting a finger to her lips she rolls her eyes up, seeking for the memories, but they are simply not there, with a denying sway of head, full of dismay, she looks at him. He's not sad or disappointed in her. That is enough to bring relief into her chest, for her the worst would be if Ryou stopped caring about her or even trying to connect to her.

Ryou isn't as relieved. The fact that she can't remember much is alarming, she wasn't in her right mind when she opened her eyes back then and what with that light? Does her uncle know something more about it?

"Do you feel calmer?" it was a rhetoric question, he always knew how to read the air in the room. "If so, you should rest."

Grazing his finger feebly on her skin, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, he prepares to stand up again, but she grabs his hand between both of hers, a strawberry-red blush on her cheeks, it's all written over her face she doesn't want him to go yet.

A small, compassionate smile blooms on his lips as his brows curl up. "Are you still scared?"

Crawling closer, she rests her forehead on his back, still holding his hand, her hair pleats over his shoulder. That she'd be this convinced something bad would happen, it worries him.

"Alright, I'll stay here until you sleep."
In a second, cold air spreads on his skin as her lukewarm forehead departs from his shoulder, her eyes transfixed on him, astounded, flinching as he lifts his legs to fully sit on the bed.

"Will you make some space for me?"

She slides on the sheets in response, her PDA is thrown at the side at this point, but he can conclude from her expression she was still in disbelief. Too bold, perhaps?

"You're the one who didn't let go of me," he raises his arm, her fingertips still latched onto his sleeve, twitching before releasing her grip. "Besides, there's no one else here, it's not like it would be a problem."

Sinking her face into palms, she tries to hide. A hand lands atop her head, Ryou caresses her hair meekly, taking her out of her shell, all that will and shame condensed in one seem to disappear, because his hands are so tender she can't help but look at him. Slowly, her arms come around his torso, striking with awe before he corresponds to it.

"I'm not going anywhere."

His coat is wrinkled even more under her grasp, her face snuggling onto his chest, she wishes she'd be as confident as him, but she can't even remember what transpired the night before.

Everyone considered the Kaiser an imposingly cold man, but this isn't true at all, even though she made a mistake again, Ryou is always attempting to correct those tendencies, albeit sometimes harshly, she could feel the kindness sipping into each word, like now.

Just like that day when she intruded Edo's room, he could always see through her lies, and ever since then, hasn't he been the one most of the time attempting to make a bridge between them? And all she does is ravage it.

This isn't fair to him, she also wants to be able to convey her feelings to someone, to tell them when she's concerned or afraid, to be able to confide in someone she trusts and that they can rely on her as a person. Those butterflies in her stomach just flap their wings faster as she musters the courage to look at his face, his hand runs through her smooth hair, sliding the tips of her strands through his fingers.

"Are you feeling better now?"

They started dating because neither of them were sure about their feelings, at least, not at that time. Even though she told herself that, as she gazes up into his eyes, she thinks the answer was there all along, of her feelings for him. Her fingers unknowingly strengthen the grip on his clothes.

He's beguiled by her beauty again, her face below his just the right amount for him to appreciate it fully, those infatuated blue marbles, his cheeks getting too heated as he's reminded of that night in the obelisk dorm. Was staying here a bad choice after all? He doesn't know how much he can vouch for himself that nothing will happen. What is he thinking? He was the one scolding her for not being true to her feelings, but he's also getting impatient.

"Rie, you're embarrassing me a bit."

Her lips unseal with a sentence stuck there, although abashed, she didn't divert her eyes from him, can't he see that she's embarrassed too? She pulls his face closer, closing her eyes, stretching just enough to plant a peck on his cheek, he moves his head in reflex, bewildered by her action, their lips half meeting by mistake, their eyes opening wide.

She suddenly pulls apart, bending backwards. He'd never seen her face so flustered, swinging her hands frantically to enforce she didn't mean to as he blinks so frustratingly stoic. Is he angry again because she did this? His voice breaks her daydreaming:

"This isn't how you kiss someone, Rie."

The earnest tone in his voice startles her, even more as his hand comes behind her nape, his orbs faltering briefly, when she looks at him so affectionately, he can't... This time, it's him who shortens the distance.

"This is how you do it."

As soon as he finishes that sentence, their lips meet, Ryou is so warm, as his lips gently brush on hers, she can't refuse him, her arms coming around his neck, gliding on his back, pulling him close, her cheeks burning brightly at each time their lips press against each other in a sequence of short kisses, enveloping her in an embrace.

They prolong their session with elaborate kisses, it just happened as easily as to breathe when his tongue slid into her mouth, and she welcomed him once more, and their tongues entwined, longing for each other, one of his hands lacing around her ribs, she wishes his fingers would come a few centimeters up. These sensations imploding in their chests, it isn't about a potion anymore, this is how they feel.

Ryou roughly yanks her waist closer, their bodies smashing together before she's toppled over the bed, destabilizing him too, his arms preventing his fall, one of his hands mistakenly fondling her leg as he supports himself, snatching a silent moan from her, he retreats his hand immediately, his leg cushioned between her thighs.

Releasing a deep breath, he realizes they might've gone a little over the limit when he looks at her flushed, dazed face, an uneven breath as if he'd stolen all the air out of her. This is similar to when Sakatomo pushed him onto her at the pool, yet so different, although he can't deny he did have a good look at her, he did not have these arrhythmic heartbeats clashing strongly on his ribs back then and now, moreover Rie didn't refuse him like before.

He never paid this much attention to any girl, he could've had his way with them if he wanted, but he wasn't tempted by the idea, to put it simply, he wasn't moved or intrigued by anything except dueling. Regardless of that, every time he was with Rie those notions slowly crumbled, as if that was a mask he put on himself, a way to convince he wasn't like this, that he had no room for such feelings or maybe, he shunned them.

What a farce. No matter how much he struggles, he can't stop looking at her, or curb those impulses of just touching her everywhere, she seems to have no qualms on it either.

Her curves are such a pleasant sight, even this scar she'd wish to hide, everything in her is absolutely perfect, his blood flows violently as all those thoughts overwhelm his mind. He better get a hold of himself.

"Rie, I'm sor- Mmn-"

Instead of letting him end that phrase, she grabs his collar, tugging him down all the way to her lips again, a pleased moan escaping him as they endorse into another passionate kiss, his tongue going even deeper if that was feasible, his hands coming underneath her, lifting her light weight to accommodate her in his arms, their tongues playing around each other lustfully as if they'd been separated for years and not minutes, a handful of her hair tangled on his grip. His other hand wantonly gliding her whole leg up, her skin blazes at his touch underneath the thin fabric, her hand slithering on the solid lines of his chest in response, the softness of her legs strangling his even more, much to his liking, another blissful moan coming out unwittingly.

He can't get enough of her, of her smoothness, of her lips, of her sweet scent. If this keeps going... It's too late to worry, he screams inwardly as he can feel his blood reaching out to places it shouldn't, wincing back and ending that kiss anticipatedly, as they break apart, Rie is the most dissatisfied, her brows twisting up conflicted as he disrupts her silently mumbling, a ragged tone:

"We should stop it here."

Has she ever seen Ryou so flushed before? He's glowing red, all his blood gathered at his face as they try to recover their breath, she sits straight, startled as the volume in his pants grazes slightly on her thighs, is he having an erection?

Slapping her face into her hands, she curls up her whole body together abashedly. Is this really supposed to happen with just a few kisses and touches? She thought that time it was the potion, but now too and with much less touching than before?

Ryou is speechless too, moving away, turning his back on her, sitting up at the edge of the bed as quickly to recompose himself. He messed up.

"J-Just give me a minute," he grumbles, closing his eyes and hitting his head a few times with a closed fist.

Now he's outdone himself. Not only could he be as brazen as when they were affected by that potion, but he couldn't even control himself this time. This is beyond explanation. What about not being too forceful now? Not like he's been ever this physical with anyone else, how would he know this could happen so easily?

"I think I should go-"

As soon as he pronounces the last syllable, a hand clings to his sleeve again, Rie fusses over the keys:

"It's ok. I don't think you're a perv or anything," she sweats in nervousness even more as his expression doesn't show he's assured by her words, a slight frown on his forehead, "You can stay."

"What do you mean?"

He shifts on his seat, appalled that she'd just cut off his attempt of escaping there to give them both space. Fumes come out of her head as she types needlessly faster than usual, trying to explain her words:

"This isn't what I wanted to say! I'm not implying anything! I mean, I also-" she rewrites it a few times before getting the right sentences, "I won't be sleeping anyways now, so could you stay and talk for a bit?"

"You want me to stay?"

With how she's on the brink of faint at the overload of emotions, it's possible her judgement skills are altered. However, he also understands that Rie herself agreed to their "exchange". This has to mean something, right?

"You didn't tell me the full story about the duel spirits."

The last sentence was more an excuse of sorts, he could tell as much, albeit given how disconcerted she also was, perhaps that's her way of asking him to not leave her alone now. If he had any doubts up to this point, they're certainly removed.

It's obvious they nurture romantic feelings for each other. The amount of power she applies in her grip to hog his sleeve lessens at his words:

"Right. I'll stay, then. But-"

"I just want to talk!" she reinforces, foreseeing his next words, although awkward, avoiding each other now won't solve anything.

She slides off to the edge of bed too, taking a seat by his side, her hand gravitating toward his as if she hasn't enjoyed enough of his touch already, the feeling they can't get enough of each other is mutual. While momentarily struck by her gesture, by how her eyes glimmered as she glanced at him, his fingers slowly encase hers. She leans onwards, her forehead finding shelter on the side of his arm, it doesn't matter how unbecoming of her it is to cling this much to someone, she can't let go of him right now, she doesn't want to.

His hectic heartbeats settle along with hers, his fingers running through her strands of her hair as if to tickle her for attention, reminiscing about that dream he had, wasn't that similar to this?

"What did you want to ask about?"

She gives him a wry smile as an immediate reply. So it was true she wasn't planning on asking anything, but just keeping him here. As if troubled by his request it takes a long minute before she can come up with a proper question.

"You said you could hear the voice of duel spirits as a kid?"

With his eyes squinting ever so subtly, he manages in his head how to best answer that query.

At the lighthouse,

Edo stands at the bridge, watching the waves crash onto the coast, Asuka stands beside him, a perplexed, thoughtful glance, squandered on the horizon.

"Are you still thinking about yesterday?" Edo starts the conversation, not directly staring at her to not shy her away from answering.

"Yeah, for some reason the whole Psycho Shocker apparition concerns me. I don't know which circumstances caused my brother to disappear, but all of this reminds me of those rumors about Shadow duels and supernatural manifestations running around the school as ghost stories. I don't know how to explain, but… I believe those are related."

"I can't blame you for thinking so after what we saw. Duel monster spirits… That's a serious thing… By the way," he casts a sharp side glance at her. "Are you sure you only saw Psycho Shocker there?"

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing… I just think there's more to it than we can currently see. That professor also seemed to know well what was going on, I just don't get the part in which students vanish. Do you think they tried to do something similar to what those boys did? Summoning a duel spirit here?"

"Fubuki was never interested in this occult stuff, he was an idiot, but not in the sense that he'd go playing with things he doesn't understand. But I can't shake off this feeling…"

"What if he could… See duel spirits too? Or if he saw those apparitions before?"

"No, I don't think he-"

"Has he ever talked to you about it? Have you asked?"

"No, I didn't," her tone shrinks at his words.

"People wouldn't normally confess it to someone that can't see it too, even if they're family. Just ponder for a moment, wouldn't that sound crazy?"

There's an ounce of distraught in his speech, a lingering memory of himself as a kid looking out the window and beckoning to Diamond Guy, pointing him out as the other kids in the room laugh at him, his smile disappearing.

When he puts it like that, it's true she's not shown interest in those subjects, could it be her brother was hiding something from her because he thought she'd not understand? As she portrays his carefree grin in her head, she can't help but wonder if he's been sealing a secret to himself this whole time. The possibility hurts her, she would be a failure as a sister if that's true.

"Do you think he…?"

"It's just a theory," he dispels the topic. "Have you talked to Ryou yet?"

"No, but I've never seen Ryou so distressed ever since Fubuki, but again, Rie was in trouble, so I get how he might have felt…" she folds her arms, her heels clacking as she turns around, to face him. "And Edo, did I miss something? You're not telling me everything here, are you?"

That she caught onto it is impressive, but how exactly does he explain he saw Cyber End Dragon in bone and flesh? No way.

"It's nothing. I just can't wrap my head around what happened. Duel monster spirits…"

"I get what you mean, I've never seen anything like this before, but it's not like I hadn't heard rumors. If Fubuki, or anyone else told me they saw a duel monster spirit like in those myths, I don't know if I'd take them seriously…"

"Whether you believe or not, it's on you. I'm just saying," his fists clench at the declaration. "It takes a lot of courage to speak up about those, so I doubt everyone would. And if your brother happened to be someone who can see duel spirits or any of those phenomena, it could be that he's gotten involved in some nasty situation like that shadow duel we witnessed."

Those words carried a tinge of sadness, not only now but before too he's uneasy, or even unable to voice his thoughts fully. What is hampering him? Is it her? Is it because she's not reliable enough? Maybe Fubuki had been having many sorts of troubles all along and she never noticed, this pains her heart. But right now, what worries her the most is…

"Edo."

She calls him confidently, his gaze immediately corresponding to hers, gaping as her arms envelop him in a firm, caring hug. He's compelled to hug back, still confused about why she'd do that, as his fingers brush on her blonde hair. As if answering to his insecurities, her voice comes low enough for just him to hear:

"Even if I can't see it, it doesn't matter, whether it's you, Ryou, Judai, Rie, or anyone, I'd listen to all of you and whichever is it you believe, and none of it would change my impression of you."

Maybe those were words he expected to hear for the longest time, the faces of his father, DD and even Saiou flash on his mind. He didn't want to admit the truth, that he saw something that shouldn't be there, but those words she told him, as if reading his thoughts, were very comforting. A weight taken out of his chest.

"Asuka…"

Ending that embrace, she greets him with a quick smile, his heart thumped harder there. Turning to face the ocean again, her expression dims out dejectedly.

"If you're right about my brother and he was hiding something from us, then we will need to expand our search a lot more…"

"We'll figure something out," he sighs, sharing the sentiment. "I'll talk to Ryou too, you try and find any clue whether your brother could be hiding something and what."

At the female dorms,

Ryou flinches awake at the sound of curtains flapping wildly, his sight scanning everywhere, an orange hue invading the room, and a pink-head resting on his shoulder. He's still in Rie's room, they're both at the border of her bed still. So that wasn't a dream, they really…

When did he fall asleep? He remembers they talked about his childhood a bit, and how he used to hear and see duel monster spirits, she also told him about how she doesn't remember much, but she was scared of "ghosts" she saw which is why she'd sleep so many times in her mother's bedroom and how those ghosts could have been duel spirits.

She didn't have the best experiences with this, so he can get her panic better now, still… Her head moves away from his shoulder, surprising him, she sleepily rubs her half-lidded eyes. He takes the chance to stand up, followed by her foggy gaze.

"Rie, I need to go now. It's late and it wouldn't be good if people got wind that I was here…"

With a crestfallen nod, she agrees to that, a flutter in his chest as the memories of what they did keep coming back to his head. He leaves before letting himself get too pumped up by it again, his mind adrift during the whole walk back to the obelisk male's dorm, as he enters the main salon, he's greeted by none other than Edo sitting at the lounge couch.

"You took long enough. Where were you? I've been trying to contact you."

Crossing his arms in a grumpy fashion, he whirls around as if signing Ryou should follow, the teal-haired teen can see a bunch of unanswered messages on the screen of his PDA from when he was sleeping.

They go to Edo's room, he skims through a few documents before tossing some on the table, towards Ryou, they're all related to the symbols in the page of a book Ryou showed to him the other day.

"This is all I could find, but nothing of value as you can see."

"Why are you showing me this now?"

"I thought we should be more transparent with the info we get here," he walks to the balcony, taking a look at the woods and the sun drowning behind the trees.

"I appreciate the efforts, but this leads us nowhere," he gets up too, going to the balcony, a few meters distance between them as they look at the sunset.

"About yesterday night, tell me," there's a faint, but visible hesitation as he pauses, reconsidering if he should ask. "Ryou, you saw… You saw Cyber End Dragon, didn't you?"

"Of course I did, I used it in the du-"

"No. That's not it, I mean after the duel. When the Psycho Shocker attacked you… Cyber End appeared then…"

Ryou's eyes narrow distrustfully, or more puzzled than not at him, then avert to the horizon. He didn't predict this at all, Edo can also…

"You saw it too?"

"If I didn't I'd not be asking you like this or I'd look like a madman. It was quite hard to not see, it's a frigging dragon!"

"Was that the first time you…?"

"No. You?"

"Same here."

"Did you ever talk to anyone about it?"

"Well…"

His voice dwells in the word for a very long moment as he reminisces about a time when he first saw monster spirits. He was young, maybe around six, it was a vehicroid Ellis had just given to him and Shou, but as he told it to his brother, he was confused. When he brought it up to his parents, Kyouko was exasperated, blaming Ellis for letting them "play too much" with cards while his father smiled at him and said that he had a healthy imagination. He understood that none of them believed him.

After that, he kept seeing other duel monster cards, but he wouldn't interact with them and would pretend he'd seen nothing because the lesson he had is "this isn't normal". That was until he went to the dojo. Samejima said whoever could bond with their cards and "hear" what the cards had to say would be the next successor, at first he thought he meant it in a more abstract way. He couldn't be more wrong.

Training to exhaustion, he dreamed of inheriting the Cyber Art Style, but no matter how long he took, he couldn't hear or see anything. Was it because he repressed his abilities or because he didn't want them that he stopped seeing? As he worried over and over about it, if things could have been different had he just believed a bit more, he heard a voice calling out to him.

That voice had no cognizable words, it wasn't even a human, but he felt it was calling his name, as he drew a card, there he was Cyber End Dragon, the voice came from that card, he was convinced of it. Ryou was so elated, that he hadn't just lost his powers. Nonetheless Cyber End didn't show itself to him at that point, but he always heard its voice.

Thinking back on it, it's possible his dragon understood better than anyone else he was afraid of what he could see and what others would think about it, and didn't want to impact him or add to his conflict by showing itself.

Ever since then, he'd hear this voice every time, like an invisible thread tugged from another realm to tell him his old friend was close and alive. That's why he was so moved to see Cyber End Dragon for the first time there, protecting him. Has he finally overcome his fear? Did his friend recognize him as a capable master? He blinks awake at a voice:

"I get it," Edo sways his hand as if saying he doesn't need to say more.

"Edo, what do you think about it?"

"There are plenty of theories, but I'm not versed in them. Believe me, none of my PHDs include duel monsters… All I know is that not everyone can see them. It's hard to find a pattern, but I guess we're all duelists."

"Do you think it's because we are duelists?"

"There has to be more, not all duelists can see it either…"

"Why did you suddenly ask?"

"Why?" he's astounded at the question, as if not even him knew why. "Well, I just thought… It looked as if you could see it too. Given your reputation, I'm not surprised since it's something only a select few people can do, so I was curious if the Kaiser was able to."

"Is that so?"

He scoffs, knowing Edo that's a white lie, but he won't nitpick on him for that as he's also somewhat relieved in hearing this. Has he ever talked to anyone else about it besides Rie a few moments ago? It's the same for Edo, he deduces.

"What?" he retorts annoyedly after seeing that tiny, serene smile stamped on Ryou's face. "I thought it's better if we're on the same page here to investigate what's going on. Especially after yesterday, I want to make sure we're considering all angles, even the unlikely ones."

"You're correct. Besides, I think the professor knows more about duel spirits… Takadera said that the professor was researching that."

"Yet another info to squeeze out of him, I just don't know how."

"I'll see what I can do about that," he steps into the room. "It's getting late, so I'll be going back to my place, see you another time, Edo."

He waves his hand as Ryou leaves the precinct. Was it the right choice to tell him that? He doesn't know, but after talking to Asuka it sounded right to him. He shouldn't be relying on others and he doesn't want to involve himself too much, forget his objective, but forming alliances, it isn't that bad, right?

For some reason as the wind that night kissed his silvery strands of hair and he thought of Asuka's words, her embrace, his heart felt uncannily refreshed.

Night time

Ryou supports his elbows on the railing of his balcony, leaning his back over it, a towel around his neck as the chilly breeze dries his soaked hair and his stare directs to the darkness of the room. There's so much he doesn't know about Rie, but the key is in her past. What is Daitokuji hiding? And is that what he meant to say when he proclaimed Ryou knows nothing? He was right, he doesn't know anything, that's why…

It's time to start getting answers, but Rie doesn't have any, she was also kept in the dark, so he will have to search on his own. He dials a number. It rings a few times before it's picked:

"Hello, Noah, it's me, Ryou Marufuji."

"Why are you calling this late? It's past midnight, kid!"

"I'm sorry for that. There's something nagging me and I wanted to ask your help to settle that."

"D-did you get into trouble? If you did, isn't it better to just ask your mom?"

"It's nothing like that. I want to ask for your service to check something for me…" He straightens up, firming his grip on the railing. "I want you to check someone's background, all about their life and also who their biological father is."

"You what?! No, I'm not doing this! Ryou, I'm a lawyer, not a private detective! You do know that, right?!"

"Noah, this is for a precious friend, I'd like to find that out for them. And I do know this is not in your area, but the last time you could find a detective for me and act as a mediator, couldn't you?"

"That was…" He gasps, pausing as if troubled by the request. "Look, your mother was very angry at me last time for helping get an investigator for your missing friend, 'incentivizing his rebellious tendencies' is what she told me off for. I don't wanna be in that spot again and get myself into a mess with your family."

"I'll pay for your services. It would mean a lot for them to know that and I don't have a wide net of contacts like you do to search for a capable person to do the job."

"You-" He can hear the man mumbling breathless. "Do you really think I'd be extorting money from a high school kid?! Oh, God…" a deep sigh crosses the line. "Fine, I'll do you this favor, just this once, but you better not let anyone find this out or I'll have a noose around my neck."

Ryou assures in a confident tone. "This is only between us, no need to involve others."

"Right, send the information about this person to my email, I'll check it when I have time."

"Thank you, Noah."

He ends the call, sighing in relief, he thought Noah would refuse him for a moment. Talking about which, hearing him mention the last time he asked for help makes his eyes wander around outside, in the starry sky, lost in memories.

That was the first time he felt like he needed all the help he could, when he noticed the school was incompetent in finding the missing students and nothing else was done to improve their approach. Perhaps he came off as hopeless to Noah when he sought help, but he didn't care at the time.

A problem arose when his mother, Kyouko Marufuji found out Noah hired a detective for that and was infuriated. She stormed out of her office, shipped herself to the duel academy and called Ryou for a talk.

That was the first and only time his mother ever set foot on the island, even on the visiting days for the parents or when he came to check on the facilities of the school, she was never there.

Her arguments for scolding him were petty as usual, nonsensical and unrelatable, such as it being dangerous and not his job to do it, to let adults handle the situation and that he's been investing himself too much on this search while he should be living his life and how that could be bad for him in the long term, it was even worse when she found out he'd been also using his free time to search for clues.

After she was done saying whatever she believed was true, he coldly stated how she had no say in the matter and how little she understood of the situation to be spitting her opinion. Needless to say, she was wordless and even more riled at his callous temper by the end of their conversation, something he didn't particularly mind considering she was never a pleasant person to deal with.

A message lights the screen of his device, some expectancy shining in his eyes, decreasing as he realizes the sender isn't Rie, his eyes squinting concerned.

"Dad?"

Scrolling the screen to read the contents, he shakes off his head, it's his father telling in advance he will pay a visit tomorrow. And he's gonna stay for a whole week. At the same time, at Asuka's room, she hums a song, drying her hair in the bathroom, her PDA also receives a message from Ryou, repassing the info.

Her father is also coming earlier than they'd combine. While mumbling some silent protests to herself, another message appears on her screen, this time from a different sender.

"Could we meet tomorrow at…"

Who could it be and how did they get her number? And of all places, why'd they choose the tennis court? There's not many students in the school and most of them are her friends, they'd just ask her directly. What is going on? Is this a prank? But from who?