Title: Observations on Changing
Characters: Edo (Saiou, Juudai, & Ryou referred to)
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 783
Genre: General||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing: GX canon: B49, a character gains an understanding of something; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #24, 783 words; Include The Word Boot Camp, YGO, #17, invite; GX Month 2021, day #14, Clock Tower Prison
Notes: This takes place after Ryou vs Shou but before anything else.
Summary: Edo's curious to see what transformed Ryou into Hell Kaiser. He has a lot to think about.
Getting the recordings hadn't been easy, but Edo was very good at getting things that he really wanted. He settled himself into the chair and watched quietly as events unfolded. There was a part of him that wanted not even to bother; he needed to figure out what was going on with Saiou. He was wasting time with this.
But it was his time to waste and right now it was almost midnight anyway. He wasn't going to find out anything new until sometime tomorrow at the earliest. So he had time to get this taken care of.
Now that he had the recording, he would keep them out of everyone else's sight. It wasn't as if he had much else to do with his money and if anyone found out, it would be more likely to be assumed that he watched it out of smug satisfaction.
He wasn't certain of why he did watch. Only that he wanted to understand what had actually happened.
So he watched as Marufuji Ryou dueled Inukai in the underground and made a choice that led to the Hell Kaiser that Edo had seen today. Exactly what that choice was Edo wasn't certain of - he couldn't be certain that this was everything that had happened in the duel. What he thought he could be sure about was that Marufuji won the duel and he'd started being extremely ruthless. As far as Edo was concerned, that was all for the better.
He'd learned that same lesson years earlier, before he'd ever set foot in the pros himself - when his father had died. It had been very clear from the beginning - that no one would give him anything and if he wanted victory, he'd have to win it with his own hands. What he'd seen of Marufuji Ryou when they'd dueled had told him that the elder duelist won not because of strategy or sense, but because he was talented. Talent could only get one so far. Skill and training did all the rest, and those were two facets of victory that until now Marufuji Ryou hadn't bothered with.
Perhaps now he'd make a far better opponent.
He did perform very well against his brother. Edo wasn't certain if or when the two of them would be able to fight against one another again. Both of them had a great deal that they were doing, not just in the Pro Leagues. Edo needed to sort matters out with Saiou and Marufuji had that new deck he was learning to master.
It would be fascinating to see the improvements in Marufuji's dueling first-hand. He had a few ideas on how he could counter what he'd seen already. But that would have to come later - after he'd saved Saiou. He'd not forgotten what had happened with Mizuchi in Domino City. No decision had been reached then. But he knew exactly what it would be. If it came down to who would be the one to save Saiou, then it would be him.
Juudai barely even knew Saiou existed. He'd heard of him, of course, but he didn't know him, not the way that Edo did. Saving Saiou meant so much more to Edo than it ever would to Juudai. I should tell him not to interfere. But he couldn't bring himself to, not just yet. A tiny part of him wanted Juudai to try to save him, just so Edo could prove that he was the one who would do it. Edo savored the mental image for a few moments before he tuned his attention back to the video. The one duel against Inukai wasn't the only one on here.
So he watched those as well, seeing as Hell Kaiser evolved himself, fighting against stronger and stronger opponents, not always winning, but learning how to do far more than just ram at his enemas with his Cyber Dragons. These duels had all happened before Marufuji had acquired the Cyberdarks that Edo had seen him using, but he could see a definite shift in the play style even before that. He approved immensely. Now Marufuji knew how to duel, not just wave his shiny dragons around.
I wonder if I should invite him over for a duel? Tempting as it was, he knew that he wouldn't. Their time was limited. Genex was still going on. Edo wasn't especially interested in it, but he didn't know what Marufuji thought about it. He might actually be interested in winning, given his current attitude of desiring victory no matter what.
But it was something to think about for the future. Perhaps he could even invite Saiou over to watch. One day.
The End
Notes: Edo has always seemed to approve of Ryou's change. And why shouldn't he? It was for the best.