Last Duel of No Regrets
Chapter 5

Asuka was perhaps the only person not pleased to hear that Juudai was there, if only because she'd missed him.

'You couldn't have come two weeks earlier,' she scolded over the phone.

'Sorry,' Juudai responded, sounding a little sheepish. Maybe he was remembering all the times back at school when Asuka had scolded him. He'd certainly earned them…or most of them. Quibbles about homework, about sleeping in, about showing up to class on time – Ryou had heard the tale that would probably become an urban legend of Duel Academia as well: how Chronos had not wanted to pass them. In truth, Juudai had been the only one in danger of failing. And he'd had to work quite hard at the end to catch up.

And it was a mark of how Juudai had grown up – or, at least, how he understood that a graduation certificate was important because he also had it on good authority that Juudai had tried to, literally, drop out – that he hadn't complained terribly about the work load but done it, and earned his graduation certificate. Not at the top of the class where he could have been if he'd had a better worth ethic…but Juudai and books and not frantically rushing didn't seem to go together.

Juudai was simply too restless for that, inside and out.

Ryou thought himself as calm and patient on the outside, but restless underneath.

But it was a different sort of restlessness back then, when he was still in school. A hole left when Yuusuke and Fubuki disappeared. When he was the top of the school by a landslide and there was no-one to challenge him. No-one to even stand up to him. No-one to talk to him like an equal. Not even his little brother who'd been terrified, unconfident and exhibiting the air of not belonging.

And then Juudai had come along and challenged him. Stared at him boldly. Argued against him. Lifted his duel disk and he didn't back down when Ryou accepted the challenge.

And he came very close to winning as well. Ryou had no doubt, by the look on his face when he drew his cards, that whichever two cards he had drown from Bubbleman's effect were game-changes. Hane Kuriboh and Evolving Wings was his guess, since he hadn't played them immediately. Some combination that he needed to normal summon a monster for. Something he couldn't do after playing Bubbleman. He'd never actually asked. It didn't matter, since he'd won.

But his soul had been itching for a rematch ever since. Waiting patiently as Juudai gained more experience. Became stronger. Battled Misawa. Battle Manjyoume. Battled the Seven Stars – or a good many of them in any case. Even Camula who had beaten him – even if everyone insisted it did not count.

Nor did he want to have won that duel after he'd learnt what it would have cost him. They might not have had the best relationship then, but he loved his brother. He always loved his brother.

But before Shou calmed the out of control fire burning inside of him, Juudai lit it.

Not that he regretted it. If he had, he would not still ache to duel the boy so badly. He'd been interesting since the day he'd shown up for his exam, bedraggled and late but confident, so confident. And he'd defeated Chronos and his legendary deck. He'd made a name for himself from the offset. And he'd had Kuriboh – Hane Kuriboh. Looking eerily similar to the Kuriboh that belonged to the King of Games himself, except for its wings. And how he'd talked to his shoulder – or Hane Kuriboh. The whole school, old students and new, had seen it. But few noted it. And fewer remembered it. Even when it happened time and time again. Only his friends (and enemies, perhaps) seemed to remember he could see the spirits of his deck.

It was remarkable how unobservant people could be, sometimes.

He said that, to Juudai, expecting him to laugh and add a little epigraph. He was surprised when the other didn't.

'Professor Satou said the same.' His voice was sad, and a little dull. Then, after a moment and with a glance to his right, he added. 'I know, Yubel.'

Ryou's brow furrowed in confusion. 'Professor Satou took history, if I recall.' He wasn't a very memorable teacher. Monotonous and ignorant of the happenings of his class beyond his lesson plan. One could only learn if they followed him: his prescribed readings, the pages he read from, and his questions.

'Third year…' Juudai trailed off, then begun again. 'You know the Professor Cobra story, right?'

That was a tactful way of asking if he knew about the beginnings of the Yubel story, but he could hardly say that now.

Ryou nodded. What he hadn't learned from the principal, Shou had told him afterwards. And there had been something about Professor Satou's involvement, if he recalled.

'Cobra ordered him to duel against me,' Juudai explained, either as a refresher or a lead in. Either worked. 'During the duel, we talked.'

And, of course, by talking he meant exchanging banter that ranged from fairly innocent to quite debilitating on a mental scale. Ryou, having competed on the national level, knew that well. He'd fallen heavily in such an exchange with Edo Phoenix as well. And managed to stand up against Yubel's.

'He said the same thing.' Juudai finished his little tale. 'Or something similar. That the students of the Academia were growing blind. Following my lead. Not even seeing the rubbish left on the ground…and how that was worse than seeing and ignoring it.'

Ryou didn't need to ask to see that event was an important stepping stone to the reign of Haou.

'You grew up,' he said calmly.

'I did.' Juudai nodded. 'Oh right, I never did tell you how I duelled Yugi.'

He hadn't. They'd been interrupted the last time and Juudai had gone with Shou. Because, of course, Shou wouldn't let Juudai stay with anyone else after sharing a dorm for two and a half years. And Fubuki really only had room for one so there weren't too many alternative options in any case. Juudai's casual comment that he could sleep in the backyard had been quickly shot down, as amusing at it was.

He probably did find a nice tree or patch of grass when he was on one of his travels though.

Ryou needed to ask if there were any new stories, considering they wouldn't be able to duel until Ryou had been cleared for contact again. Which was unfortunate, particularly when the opponent he'd longed for had finally arrived. The impatience prickled at him even through his tiredness – and he was getting better by the day.

But first, there was another story.

'Shou wrote to you, I think.'

Ryou nodded. Shou hadn't written to him many times in his life, so he knew which letters Juudai was referring to. After their return from the Dark World. Shou's sadness that Juudai had not returned with them. His jubilance when he appeared later. His…disappointment, for lack of a better term, when Juudai had seemed changed, unrecognisable. No longer having fun when duelling – in fact, he'd been rushing. Shou had written about the tag duel against the principal and Tome-san, and Ryou had winced upon reading the account. Harsh was the only word he could think of – and he'd been honestly surprised to see Asuka hadn't slapped him for it.

Or she might have done it somewhere where Shou couldn't see.

'What's funny?' Juudai asked curiously.

'Wondering whether Asuka slapped you or not,' Ryou replied. Some people got caught out by questions like that. Not him.

Juudai shrugged. Whether it was a "no" or a "yeah, but I deserved it," Ryou wasn't sure. 'Anyway, I wasn't having fun duelling anymore. Too many things had gone wrong. Too many people hurt. Too many…I'd thought were dead. Or I'd killed.' His voice was even, but his eyes displayed that old anguish, even now. 'It had become far more than a game. Than something fun. Too many emotions. Too many memories.'

Ryou understood. Perhaps not to the extent of Juudai because, in comparison, his life-experiences had been rather tame. Except the underground. And the heart issues. And the current hospital admission.

He wondered how Juudai would do trapped in a hospital room. Escape through another dimension possibly.

He swallowed the temptation to ask. He was outwardly patient, after all. And he knew full well such an endeavour would not help him in the end, regardless of whether other words had infections or such.

'Yugi came to Duel Academia on our graduation day.'

That seemed a little left-field before Ryou realised Juudai was simply continuing his story. 'Shou didn't mention this,' he remarked.

'Shou didn't know, I imagine.' Juudai shrugged. 'He wasn't at the main hall, or the audience. Or at the party I think.'

Ryou knew Juudai had skipped the party in favour of departing early.

'I was leaving but Hane Kuriboh led me to where Yugi's replica deck was on display,' Juudai continued. 'And Yugi was there. With his Kuriboh. And he told me I'd grown since the day he gave me Hane Kuriboh, but I'd lost something in the process.'

That was another thing Ryou hadn't known: that Hane Kuriboh had come from Yugi himself. He'd thought it was a rare find in a card pack, or the prize of a tournament. If he were Fubuki, he would probably have given a low whistle. 'And you kept this a secret?'

Juudai shrugged. 'Hane Kuriboh is Hane Kuriboh. It didn't really matter for the most part where he came from.'

Ryou supposed that was true, to an extent. Cyber End Dragon had been inherited, but he had developed a close bond with it. And Cyber Dark Dragon had been originally his, but it was Shou who had understood him. But… 'Weren't you the one you said the cards had memories?' He half-smiled.

'Of course.' Juudai either didn't see or ignored the contradiction. He knew Ryou understood him and that was what mattered. 'Anyway, Yugi told me he knew an opponent who would help me regain that. Someone stronger than him.'

'Stronger than the King of Games?'

Juudai laughed, and Ryou wondered if something akin to shock had snuck into his tone. 'I thought that too. But he told me to hold Hane Kuriboh above the deck and I did, and I met the Yugi in the past in some pocket of time.'

It was a strange comment, suggesting that Yugi of the past was stronger than Yugi of the present. Ryou didn't bother questioning the "pocket of time" part. Stranger things had happened in his time. Though, he remembered suddenly, the younger Yugi also had…

'He was referring to the Pharaoh,' Juudai said, almost at the same time the thought crossed Ryou's face. 'And duelling against The Sky Dragon Orisis was probably the most amazing duel I will ever play.'

'It is hard to match up to an Egyptian God,' Ryou agreed, after a pause. The God cards had long been lost…or destroyed. So to duel against one was something…amazing. That word failed to do the concept even a shred of justice.

And, of course, this was the duellist who'd defeated the phantom demons as well. Though, if anyone listened to Juudai on that account, he'd say the first victory was due to Daitokuji's miracle card, and the second to Johan Anderson and Rainbow Dragon.

But he'd heard from Shou. And it hadn't been Johan Anderson or that pretty dragon of his that had destroyed the Emperor of Divine Flames.

Not for the first time, Ryou thought of how far the Juudai who had, knee deep in the ocean, challenged him, had come. But he had rarely looked back at himself and thought how mediocre he felt in comparison.