There's an image for this chapter in the Ao3! Next on the list of updates is my other fic Minuet!
Chapter 9
Date
Inside the fancy hotel room, Rie sighs heavily, tightening the pastel-colored flowery ribbon around her ponytail in front of the mirror. The edges of her brows making a half circle up, concerned. A second passes as she zones out, tightening the ribbon again, gasping after realizing she repeated the action.
She irons her plain white T-shirt with both hands, avoiding the suspenders coming from her pleated light-blue skirt; her head lowered when she leaves the bathroom, remembering the big scolding from her boss for often taking sweets from the bakery for two weeks, figures it's unprofessional. Of course she had to pay for it all, and now she was almost fired again. It's been a few days ever since, but only today she was called back to this hotel.
"Did you finally run out of ideas for treats?" Ryo pokes from over the couch, a stoic tone accompanied by a soft scoff hinting irony.
She pouts pettily at him, but he can't be blamed for anything, after all it was her decision to bring food. It takes him but a glance to notice the bags underneath her eyes and seemingly pale complexion, she looks frazzled.
He watches quietly as she sits down on her chair, looking over the table and fetching the book she put there before, just to stare at it intently and doze off a few seconds. She's so out of it and he knows those symptoms all too well: it's either due to the effect of dubious substances or she's completely worn out.
"Not sleeping enough lately?"
In a mindless act, she puts down the book and taps her left fist on her right wrist, making him raise a brow.
"I still don't understand sign language, you know?"
The room is filled by a soundly gasp, her gaze lands on him, eyes squinting puzzled as she repeats silently.
"Work."
He's become better at lip reading recently, even when his manager is trying to have secret conversations and not speaking loud, it's possible to identify a couple words. All thanks to Rie. Though, it's probably not as convenient for either of them to be conversing like this.
A muffled screech soars, Rie drags the chair behind the couch, sitting down on her usual spot, directly behind him, opening that book again. Is it possible to read anything in this state?
At least he can conclude they have something in common: overworking. He snorts, in fact if he wasn't working his ass off, he wouldn't have gotten those duels in the minor leagues. The difference is that he could've just let his promoter take care of all the convincing for the duels and make an impression on the stage only, but Rie is bound to this contract of coming here at his will.
A dense quietness follows for long minutes as he adjusts the TV to display the duels he's analyzing for the day. Suddenly, a warm head nudges on his back, his shoulder bristle instantly, knocking it out by instinct, shuffling on his seat.
"What are you do-"
He gapes astounded, his lips sealing shut right after. Rie's head topples down with his brusque movement, she nods off, gripping that book in her hands as if her life depended on it, drooling even, her bangs swinging meekly like curtains sweeping over her face. This is so unsightly and not lady-like he's speechless, albeit it's impossible for one to pass out with elegance.
"You gotta be kidding me…"
Is this why she was unusually quiet today? Letting out a deep sigh he propels himself up, walking and halting right in front of her seat, a harsh, a berating huff as he calls:
"Rie."
His brow twitches once, she's not budging a centimeter, can someone even faint this hard? No, wait, was he like that when he collapsed too? It doesn't sound great either way.
Thin pink strands of hair set aflutter with each soft respiration, it's charming in a way. Regardless, he isn't here to study her while she sleeps. Leaning onward, he encloses Rie's surroundings between his arms, trapping her on that chair. This time, his breath blows close to her face:
"Rie."
She awakes with a startle, instinctively swaying her head back after her first sight is Ryo's face, too close for comfort, her gaze switching from his sharp, enthralling green eyes to the lean lines of his chest demarcated by his long-sleeved blue shirt, his coat brushes slightly on her thighs, a ticklishness spreading on them.
Without a second thought, she buckles her legs inward and erects a barrier between them with the book on her hands, covering her face up to her nose, partially hiding her blushed cheeks. Why is he pinning her like this? Ryo has such an aloof face, it's unfathomable.
He finally pronounces himself, in a low, cool voice. "The bed is very empty, you know?"
Is it her impression or was his tone sultry right now? The color suddenly vanishes from her face, he can only hear an imaginary shriek as she drops her jaw open, smacking his nose with her book, knocking him away.
He shuts his eyes, stumbling a step away, massaging his nose while glaring and snarling at her with a frown:
"Ugh! What was that for?!"
Embracing the book and herself alone, she turns slightly to the side, mantling her own body with her arms. It then dawns on him, the reason why she's so uneasy. Grunting an insult, he takes a step back, for good measure, if it wasn't obvious enough he was flustered when his eyes averted from her so quickly.
"Y-You got it wrong."
Did he just stutter? She couldn't tell whether his nose was red from the hit or if he was plainly embarrassed when his whole posture stiffened.
"I'm not inviting you to the bed. But if you're going to sleep, just use the bed since no one is using it."
There's a couple seconds break, she blinks aplenty, confused, her face boiling from down to up, strawberry-red as she nervously blabbers apologies for the misunderstanding.
"By the way, there's drool on your face, you might want to wash that before sleeping," he swipes his fingers on his own cheek a few times to tell where the stain was, smirking at her in a mocking tone.
In a panic attack, she scrubs her arms on the face to clean it, rushing to the bathroom, the door slammed with such a loud bang he flinches.
Rie takes a good look at herself in the mirror: baggy eyes, a stain of drool on her cheek, some strands of hair are glued to it, a hairstyle so unkempt just a bit of combing with fingers isn't enough. Slapping some cold water onto her skin, she rubs the towel extra hard on her face, waking herself up.
By the time she crawls out of hiding, he's already sat, his eximious straight posture shifting feebly when a smooth plop comes from the side. Her eyes squint so much they're almost closed, her mouth yammers mutely some nonsense he can't make anything of.
"The book and my nose survived," he states bluntly.
She buries her face on her palms, sliding it up, her hair curving in loops, then she slaps her palms together, a sign of apology.
"Forget it, I could have worded it better," he flashes his eyes to the side, focusing on the TV screen far ahead. "You should rest if you can't even sit without falling asleep, as you can see I'm too busy here to even care," he tunes down the volume with the remote.
The sudden spark of energy lit inside her won't let her sleep in peace now, not after this. Standing up while twiddling her fingers she bows apologetically once more before going back to her chair.
He finds himself casting a last glance over his shoulder, Rie has this obtuse frown between her brows, fighting against the drowsiness. He shouldn't give in either. Thus, he spends another night occupying himself with those recorded duels.
A few days later, at a small apartment,
The clock ticking on the wall and Haru tapping his foot on the wooden flooring simultaneously compose an awkward symphony in the living room of the apartment. He looks at the clock, snorting impatiently, taking his hands out of the jeans pockets and folding his arms, his brown jacket and white T-shirt wrinkled permanently.
Rie slides the door open, dressed in a halter neck white dress, the frilly brims at the collar gilded by a thin black ribbon, the edges of the dress around the middle of her thighs swipe the fabric of her dark stockings. Her brother casts a measuring glance at her, raising a brow, a bit bothered even, questioning:
"You're going like this?"
If she's going out, she wants to look pretty. He didn't even say anything about their destination, so she might as well dress under her own judgement.
"You should put on a jacket," he suggests, almost grossed by her looks. "It's night outside and it'll be later when we come home, you'll get a cold."
Her eyes roam around before she raises her index finger and swings her whole arm left and right, repeating with her lips. "Where?"
"It's a secret."
"Why?" she crooks her brows, suspicious of him.
"Don't be like this now, I told you it's a surprise and I paid the entrance tickets already!"
Tickets? Is it one of those amusement parks or something?
"Your," she points at him, hooking both her indexes together and nodding her head at him. "Friends?"
"I'm not taking any friends along, this is supposed to be your break and I'm sure you'll like it!"
Is this why he asked me if I'll have some free time through that call with dad? And he insisted so much on me coming…
Her eyes drop halfway, casting doubt on his overconfident manners, he folds his arms a tad annoyed.
"I only scheduled this appointment after you've given your okay you'd go out with me, right? Plus, you won't do any good to yourself working like a mule and I'm paying this with my allowance," he pauses at the last part, reassessing the information given. "Well, that's technically your money, but-"
I'd rather sleep, but Haru doesn't come home often… And he must've planned this for a while.
She sighs dispiritedly, swinging her head in affirmation and gesturing it's all okay. He's right in that one, she'll end up fainting like Ryo if she doesn't take a break sometimes. Grabbing a long-sleeved black bolero and tossing it at her brother, as if demanding him to carry it.
She opens her left palm flat, rubbing it in a circular motion above her chest. "Please?"
Haru opens his arms to question her choice, leaving the impression it wasn't so much about the temperature but about how much skin she's showing. Strapping a small purse onto her shoulder, she shrugs off, purposefully flying over his unreasonable demands.
"Fine, let's go, we have to get onto the train quickly."
Rie often glances over at the wristwatches of people to check time, but they've been riding the train for a good forty minutes before they drop off at a station she's never been to. As they walk out the place, the environment is completely new: the lamp posts are more well maintained than the ones in her neighborhood and the amount of buildings surrounding the place is also scarce compared to the blocks of apartments where they live, but the buildings are way taller.
Grey pillars stretch to the skies, lights coming out of the tiny windows as far as her sight can reach, she recognizes one of the many skyscrapers belonging to Maximiliam Pegasus, exactly as they showed on the TV once. This is a work centered area. People like her wouldn't get even close to this, but one day, maybe she'll be working in one of those companies too, if everything goes well for her.
"We gotta hurry, sis!"
Haru grabs her by the wrist, rushing her across the streets to reach a large building. There's a small queue at the entrance and two bouncers checking people's tickets. They waltzed by the line so fast she didn't have time to read whatever was in the shiny signboard above the building.
The air is a bit suffocating, Haru lets go of her wrist, but there are so many people around it's hard to follow him, she squeezes herself through the crowd, it reminds her of that waitress job. It was also a full day like this when she met Ryo. And he was so wasted he doesn't even remember it…
The noise of the chattering around snaps her out of daydreaming, her brother waves, calling her out from the side, from one of the seats at the front lines nearing the grey walls on the right corner, close to the guardrails, near the side tunnels from where presumably the competitors would come.
It's a stadium. On their surroundings there are bleachers with a long line of chairs; dim lighted sides with highlights focused on the arena located a floor below them.
Approaching him slowly, she twists her brows, narrowing her eyes in distrust, hunching her shoulders at him and looking around.
"It's a duel stadium."
The shocked, bulging eyes of hers elicits a small, mischievous chuckle on him that he shields with a single hand, sitting down and swaying his hand down so she does the same.
So this is what it was about? He brought me to a dueling stadium?!
She sits with a thud, sliding off a tad from the sleek blue chair. At least he got the front seats, but she's never been to a duel in person before, won't the holograms give her a heart attack?
"Why the long face? I thought you were interested in dueling."
Of course he wouldn't invite you for a night tea time, Rie. He's another of those duel addicts, it has always to be about dueling. Is that duel academy brainwashing people to be like this or what?
"Hey, I'm sure you'll have fun! Give it a try, right?"
Landing her hands on her lap, she sighs deeply disappointed, the hard material of the seat flattening her fatty thighs, her backside almost glued to it, didn't they have any paddings or such? Do they expect people to stay a night in this uncomfortable setting?
Her gaze travels idly in the spacious room. Not all the seats on their side are occupied, neither on the opposite side across from the arena. It doesn't seem like many are interested in whichever duelists are coming today. This is going to be boring, she cups her chin on her hand, bending her forward in a slouched posture.
It takes about an eternity for the guests to be all settled and the lights to diminish a bit more, the holograms work better if it's a little more dark, she assumes. The guests hoot weakly to the first duelist incoming, a man using a suit as if he's cosplaying some mafia goon.
From the opposite side, another competitor strides in, the crowd drowns in exhilaration, screaming so loud she has to cover her ears. Her eyes widen in awe, the said opponent was none other than…
"Ryo…?" she blurts out unwittingly, shutting herself at the realization she's in the middle of an audience now.
She straightens on her seat, following his every move as he enters the stage, clad in black just like in the hotel. Snapping out of her daze, she runs her hand to the side, dealing a dueling-glove-like slap on her brother's arm, inquiring him.
"Heh," he rubs his nose, lifting his head proudly. "Did you like the surprise? Since you're such a fangirl of this guy, I thought you'd have more than one reason to watch the duel."
Flaring her nostrils, she rasps at him with a breath, facepalming at his complete misunderstanding of the facts. Ryo better not spot her in the audience, that's gonna be embarrassing to explain.
"Hey, don't be ungrateful, even though this is a minor league duel, it was hard to get tickets because that guy's popularity has been on the rise recently."
On the rise? Well, he is fastidiously studying for the duels, isn't he…? I'm glad that it's working out for him.
Her brows coil up on their own, conflicted. While it's troublesome to show her face here given the circumstances of their contract and that she's breaking some of the rules, it might not be a waste. Still, with how frequently she's been going to that hotel, she's not missing Ryo's face any bit and she'd prefer if she wouldn't see him in her free time now too.
Crossing her legs and folding her arms, she exhales troubled at the situation. They're spending the night here independently of her opinion, she might as well enjoy it. She wasn't aware he was still having duels in the minor leagues. And it does raise a few questions: what he's doing in the underground if he's affiliated to the pro leagues? Why would he be involved in both worlds? A voice distracts her:
"Cyber Dragon!"
Ryo summons, the other man isn't sold on a demise yet. The holograms are perfect, the metal plates of the creature solid as if they were real, a monster stood there in the arena. No wonder even duelists lose their footing at times, but Ryo… Doesn't even blink at it when the enemy monsters attack him.
That dragon is the same card I…
A surge of blood prickles her cheeks after reminiscing how she held that Cyber Dragon before and kissed it. It's shameful to think about it now that she sees him using the card.
Haru observes her with a side glance, his gaze then darting at the duelists. Rie is blushing a bit too much and it's kinda cringe to fawn over a guy like him in his opinion. Nonetheless, he hoped to achieve a number of accomplishments by coming here. One of them was to properly apologize, another was to give Rie a break and make sure she has fun, the third was to have her hooked into duels, and the last, but not less important, regards his own agenda.
When he asked Misawa about how to deal with the fact he'd known about his sister's idol crush and made her mad, Misawa did give a few pointers: that everyone had their "crushes" on monster cards or even other idols and it was normal and that if he's so hellbent on confronting her, to try an approach that doesn't involve talking to her directly about it, but showing the person the issue, because "thinking by oneself is the pivoting element to growth".
The answer was more than satisfying, it cooked up an idea in Haru's head: if he can make Rie see, in person, just which type of slag this guy is, her dreamy imagination or whatever is driving her feelings will crash down into reality again. And then, she can concentrate on more important stuff like her career and more books for her studies instead of those low-level duel magazines, who knows maybe use her free time to rest.
He nods to himself in approval, a devilish smirk tarnishing his pretty face, rehearsing the plan in his head, fully convinced of its success. A shout pierces the ears of the spectators, their eyes turned to the stage, a creepy multiple-headed dragon towers ahead of Ryo, its heads producing a cacophony of shrieks that make her eardrums throb, and with a disparaging smirk, he orders:
"Chimeratech Overdragon, end this!"
At the command, the creatures crack their jaws open, gathering a blast of light each, shooting it all at once. They can barely see the silhouette of the man engulfed by the brightness, his shout echoing. He has to be taken out by paramedics, unconscious. If Rie was there, she'd also have a mental breakdown with how realistic the whole battle looks.
For a moment, the crowd is static, in sheer silence, but as the virtual smoke dissipates, an unison of cheers make the stage tremble. Even the narrator is speechless, just to hype it more:
[And here he is, astonishing us with his oppressive dueling again! Hell Kaiser Ryo is unstoppable!]
Ryo doesn't spare a glance or any ounce of attention to them, he simply walks off to the side, a myriad of fans jumping and going down, barricaded by the guards at the side corridor. Saruyama also stands there, giving a short interview to a few reporters mixed in the bunch.
"Let's go!"
Haru grins excitedly, vaulting over the railings of the bleacher, Rie can but gasp, eyes bulging out as her brother class from down there:
"We'll get an autograph for you."
Shaking her head off, she denies it, following him to thwart his plans. Another fan jumps down with a thud, bellowing so loud it overrides the other yells:
"You criminal! Die!"
Everyone is stunned seeing the deranged man with a knife, running past the path the crowd opens out of fear, a blockade of guards immediately appears, taking him down while Saruyama steps back, displeasure stamped on his face.
Haru uses the chance to dart into the side wings of the stadium while no one is looking, cuffing his sister's wrist. Her mouth flaps in protest, to construct unidentifiable sentences. A chill crawls on her spine as they walk past the taken down man amidst the confusion, everyone else was too surprised to move or to pay attention to their mischief.
The excited voices of the fans dwindle the further they go in, the automatic lights on the grey ceilings are still on, indicating someone passed by not long ago. Rie gulps, tugging her brother's arm repeatedly, urging him to stop, he halts briefly.
"Come on, we're already here, and if you're such a fan, you should go for it! It's not every day you get to see your idol," he heaves, realizing something midway. "I mean, I do, but he studies in the same class as me, so that doesn't count."
Tracking the path of lights, they finally catch a glimpse of their target: Ryo takes the emergency exit, Rie's eyes squint in distrust, why would he come out from there? Without giving it a thought, Haru pushes the door open with a shove of his arm, the smile on his face gradually disappearing as his sight leaps around, the grey brick walls of the large alley tilting around, he finds no one there but an empty and flat cobblestone path connecting to a side street behind the building.
A grave, strong murmur addresses him, from the side. "Why are you stalking me?"
Haru's blood freezes, his eyes flashing to the source of the voice, Hell Kaiser Ryo in person, a raised head, stuffed chest, a domineering posture, as if to make sure the boy understood the disparity in their heights. Just as he steps out of the door, his feet slide sideways, hauling Rie along, tripping on her own toes, she comes out, the thick emergency door shutting with a bang behind them.
The duelist's eyes broaden slightly, a glint of life lit inside it, faltering so momentarily Haru doubts if it was an illusion.
Letting go of his sister's writs, he dashes directly in front of her with a nervous smile, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
Crap! We're busted. Did he notice we were tailing him? That's something alright.
"I-I didn't think you'd notice it," is the first declaration that comes out of his mouth as he curses himself for getting into this situation. "I mean, forget it," his fists clutching together. "I'll be short: my sister here is a fan of yours and she wants an autograph."
Ryo arches a brow, glancing over to Rie that makes an "X" crossing both her indexes and wobbling her head hectically in a no.
"Oh, is that so?" the teal-haired man replies unamused.
"Yeah, she's a huge fan of yours, you wouldn't believe it. So I'd like an auto-"
Before he has the time to complete that sentence, Rie puffs her cheeks, offended at her brother, pursing her lips while a maze of crinkles forms all over her expression, delivering a spiteful stomp on Haru's toes.
"Ouch!" he raises his leg in pain, frowning at her. "You ogre! Why did you do this?!"
Sawing the back of her hand under her chin, she chops down to the side with both open hands simultaneously, reinforcing while gritting her teeth:
"Liar."
"How am I a liar? You have all those duel maga-"
She chops her own palm with a hand, pouting at him again, even more annoyed than the first time. Ryo chuckles delightfully, disrupting the heated mood.
"Well, if she wants an autograph so much, why doesn't she walk up here and ask for it face-to-face?"
"She's mute, she can't ask for it herself, so I'm doing it for her."
With how Haru's brows angled, making a deep crevice between his eyebrows, Rie just face slapped herself in shame, it was enough for Ryo to grasp she didn't agree with whatever the boy was up to.
"I don't give autographs," he states, crude and apathetic.
"What? But we-"
"You followed me here, so what? That doesn't give you any right to demand anything from me. I could sue you for that too."
"How can you say that? I just told you she is-"
His speech is cut off yet again. "I don't care if your sister can't speak or whatever, I make no exceptions. If she wants an autograph, she's free to come and ask," he smirks, casting his gaze onto her silhouette occulted behind her brother's, stretching his hand towards her in a challenging invitation. "I'll look into her eyes and tell her the same."
Rie observes her brother, peeking into his reaction with a sneaky, curious glance: Haru is so baffled his fingers can only twitch for a moment.
What's wrong with this guy? He's… Coming out from the back door, ignoring his fans and he didn't even tend to his opponent when the dude passed out! Zero sportsmanship!
Rie pulls the collar of her dress to free her throat to gather courage before tapping her brother's shoulder, pointing at them both, then joining her fingers with her thumb and landing her hand beside her mouth, tapping it once there before tapping it near her ear.
"Home."
I'd like to say it's good Rie is finally seeing his true colors, but it's frustratingly disappointing that he won't even give an autograph like a normal duelist should. Maybe this will take her head out of the clouds.
"Don't be a wimp, Rie! We've come this far! We're not going home before the auto-"
"Oh, look who we have here! Hell Kaiser in person!"
An unfamiliar, rugged voice soars from behind the pro-duelist, a man with a long brown jacket, his brown hair tied in a small ponytail, an ill grin creeping on his face, hands in his pockets, he glances over to the pink-haired siblings, completing the sentence in distaste:
"And company…"
Scrutinizing them both from up to down, he nods, puckering his lips impressed after inspecting Rie. Haru stands between her and the man instantly, glaring back at him.
Ryo's cloak flaps in front of them as he turns around, an uninterested tone as he asks:
"And you would be?"
"Aw, you hurt me, forgot already? We even had a duel."
"A duelist?" he lets out a muffled laugh with derision. "Like I'd remember all the losers I've met."
"Tsk, tsk," a low laugh bursts through his lips. "I thought you'd be like that. Fine, since you're with your fans, I'll be nice and let you finish your talk, meet me later, I'll be waiting down the street."
Hunching his shoulders, he turns around to walk off, Ryo also faces the siblings again, prepared to give them a scolding, when they hear the crackling noise of that man whirling around behind Ryo, pulling a police-alike baton from the inner parts of his coat.
In a swift move, he swings it at Ryo's back, aimed at the head, Haru opens his mouth to shout, but it's too late.
A shadow darts past his sight, Rie smacks the duelist from to the side, he totters a few steps back, his eyes widening as he sees the blow that should be directed at him now about to hit her. Why did she even come? She should know she's not supposed to be here.
It doesn't take a second for him to react, grabbing her by the hand while still stumbling and yeeting her to the side, her feet moving on their own at the force, walking drunkenly a few steps ahead, her purse flying off her shoulder. Maybe it was her hand that was too cold or his that was too warm, but her cheeks burned a bit there. The attack of the man swiping empty air.
"Rie!" Haru's voice soars tremulous, regretful he didn't intervene in time.
Ryo sneers at the man who just assaulted him, scorn coating his rough voice. "Can't settle this with me so you're trying to toss civilians into this now? Pathetic."
The man aligns the baton along his arm, rushing for another blow. "I won't miss next!"
Grinning viciously, he switches his aim it at Rie on the side, not at his main target, Ryo flinches pulling her out of range, her body swaying back and forth once as he prevents the collision against his chest, her hair sweeping the air at the impact when he grabs her by the arms, speaking from close above her head.
"So it wasn't enough to be beaten inside the duel stadium, you want to be humiliated here too? I can provide that."
"If your fans are as trashy as you, then they can have the same end!" using two fingers he whistles, a trio of men coming from the end of the alley.
Haru grinds his teeth ruefully, sweating more than usual at the adrenalin pumped into his veins and how fast it escalated from showing the ruthless side of Hell Kaiser to being roped into this scuffle.
Is this guy really involved in gang fights now?! Most memorable honor student of the duel academy, my ass! He's a thug!
The men divide into all directions, one of them coming at Haru that panics, avoiding the steel pipe coming after him with a backstep, until he crashes onto a wall, stopping the next blow with a clasp of hands. The other two men come at Rie and the duelist respectively.
Ryo easily side-steps his opponent, whirling Rie by the shoulders with him, leaving a leg stretched, making the guy chasing after her trip on his leg and fall face-down to the ground.
Haru is almost hit while looking at the side to check on his sister, reacting at the last moment, getting a hold of the steel pipe and initiating a tug-of-war game with his enemy.
The last and first opponent is bloodthirsty, aiming again at Ryo's head with the baton, his arm lifting to shield the blow in reflex, but the guy changes the trajectory of the blow midair, to the girl beside him, much to his annoyance.
Hauling her close, Ryo deals a swift, but soft leg seep to her heels, cutting her balance. She tumbles back, her fall broken by a pair of arms that she promptly and desperately clings to in order to keep standing, her sleek fingers sliding onto his back, to get a grip.
Ryo leans onwards, bending over her body in an almost dance-like move, one she wasn't invited to beforehand, his leg grazing in the middle of hers, so close, their faces almost meet, some strands of his blue hair fluttering upwards at the wind, a byproduct of the baton slashing above his head.
In that singular moment, his eyes unwittingly latch onto hers, bedazzled, her cheeks so flushed and pink they matched her hair color, he delved into that light blue hue of her glistening orbs, looking at him so overwhelmed, only his image reflected like the whole world surrounding them disappeared, her hands clutching him a tad harder, too aware of his gaze. He couldn't discern whether the heat building up on his cheeks was from the recent exercise or not.
That sweet, fruity scent invades his nose again, her trademark perfume, engraved into his memory ever since that day in the lockers. His arms accommodate her firmly, even her back bones are made by softness, does she have cotton stuffed inside her or what? Why is she making the exact same mistake of fending off people she obviously can't battle against?
He has a privileged sight, even if briefly, of her plump curves, shrouded by the dress wrinkling on the right parts, which just made it more enthralling than those skimpy clothes from the hotel for some reason.
An uncanny thought crosses his imagination, of him biting this ribbon off her neck and undressing her right there. It should've been her swept off her footing, but he was the one losing his ground here.
It took a second in the real world, but that exchange of gazes lasted an eternity for them. He gapes subtly, his heart slightly off rhythm, his blood running a marathon underneath his skin. Her lips gloss so invitingly if he had to say so. Holding this girl in his arms when she corresponds to him so trustingly, it's not bad.
That intimate moment of theirs shattered when a loud, dull clack reverberates like a heavy iron bell near their ears, an attack landing atop his skull.
His whole body quivers, as he swallows a groan of complaint. Shoving his head up, he forces his opponent to take a step back, bringing Rie up along with him. His patience dissipates with his last, deep heave.
She's a bit cluttered between his arms, her shoulders arched up so tensely like she's a wary kitten. Suddenly, her eyes widen out, she pushes him away once more, he doesn't let go of her hand, puzzled, a steel pipe coming in between them. The man who fell earlier.
Smirking like that was a ride in the amusement park, Ryo irks his opponent, another blow swings in the air, this time, he shoves the pipe away with an arm, another attack incoming, this time aimed at Rie, he pulls her close, whirling around swiftly, his cloak whipping the air, startling his main opponent.
Both men simmer in anger, their faces so warped one could storage raindrops on the creases. They both do a crossed attack, Ryo but steps back a few times, dragging his partner along, tittering and grinning as though to reinforce his disdain. To teach them in as many ways possible how weak they were.
Haru kicks the sheens of his own opponent, the man releasing the steel pipe, which he grabs and whacks the man with, ending that skirmish and hurrying to his sister, shouting:
"Hey! Get away from her!"
That distracted one of the goons, but Haru's eyes were focused on Ryo alone, in flames, like he'd seen the worst enemy of humanity.
Ryo's opponent darts at full strength, swinging the weapon at him, he avoids by backstepping, grabbing Rie's hand and stretching his arm out, her feet following the movement to not tumble, guiding her gracefully out of the way.
Haru munches on his own teeth, rushing to her aid, halting as one of the gang members stop him, his anger at such boiling point he gives the men a single shove to the side, ignoring his presence completely and marching enraged towards the other two men:
"What are you doing to my si-"
"Step aside."
Ryo neutralizes the shouts, tugging at Rie's hand again, bringing her close and using the momentum to send her away kindly, a faint smile traveling from corner to another his lips, so quick she doubted her eyesight. His gaze flashes to the side where his opponent comes from.
Haru's walk is interrupted when he bumps into Rie unwillingly, his chest knocking them both apart from the collision, flinching in unison, watching the fight with a gawking mouth as the opponent once again chases the duelist, swinging his weapon left and right at him.
Rather than avoiding the blow, he defends with an arm. Smirking at Ryo, the man finally reveals his last trick, recoiling the baton and clicking a button on the side, the clinking sound of a mechanism activates, a plug-alike extension comes out of the tip, he slams it against Ryo's ribs.
A snap of blue sparks pierces the night, he shudders at the electric current flowing through his body, his feet sliding off with a sandy crepitation, his hair sways and flops along with his head. Haru let out a sizzling noise at the scene, feeling the pain of the duelist. Rie covers her mouth with both hands, astonished.
A stun baton?! This guy is trouble, I have to call the police or-
A muffled laugh echoes, turning into a cackle as Ryo raises his head with a vicious smirk, the grip of the man weakening in sheer terror. Ryo punches the man quickly, following with an elbow hit, a crunchy noise echoing as the man shouts, holding his nose, grabbing the baton from his opponent's hands, he chucks it away in a second.
"You'll need more than this to put me down."
"You freak!" he holds his bleeding nose, red drops trickling down to the ground. "What's the deal with y-"
The next he knows, Ryo seized his wrist, twisting it to his back until he snarled complaints and insults. His neck bending ever so painfully as he tries to get a look into his enemy's face, sweating cold from the intrepid, but gloomy glare.
"L-Let go of me you-"
"Oh, I will…"
His tone comes off failed, a glint of wrath abiding his gaze as he coldly cracks the man's pinky, a yell full of angst echoing on the alley, Haru gulps dryly, his foot sliding away with caution, even the goon who attacked them before petrified on his tracks.
Ryo lets go of the man, who drops to his knees cupping his broken finger with his other hand, swaying his torso forth and back to cope with the pain.
"What are you crying for? You wanted a fight, didn't you? It wasn't enough to lose in the duel and go home happily."
"I'll sue you for aggression, you punk!"
"Go ahead, by all means. Where I hail from there's no mercy for people like you, not in duels nor outside them."
"You lunatic bastard!"
He gets up, enraged, but stops as Ryo looks down on him. A chill running down his spine, that boy, much younger than him is way past the phase of teen delinquency, there's something menacing about him, a disfigured aura as he speaks, in a firm, but not overly loud tone:
"May I invite you to a duel in a different venue? I'm sure you'd give quite the show."
He knows well what he's offering, he was caught in it too and the man gets the hint of which "venue" he refers to. One he'd better not step on if he wants to live a long life.
"I-Ieek!"
The man picks up his fainted friend and runs away together with his fellow criminals. Ryo follows them with his gaze until they've vanished from sight. Then, he turns around, his cloak flapping heftily, his gaze directed at Rie, an ironic tone as he intentionally provokes:
"Well, much better than an autograph, right?"
She jolts, gaping astounded and casting some insults at him with her grumpy gaze alone, compelled to outrage. She never wanted an autograph in the first place. Haru complains from behind her, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"Are you out of it? I don't care if you're a famous duelist or whatnot, don't just-" he flinches upon the slow, thin trail of blood descending from the Kaiser's forehead. "Whoah! You're bleeding!"
Rie inhales hoarsely, scared, her mouth gawking open to warn him. Ryo's eye twitches at the wetness reaching his brows, brushing his thumb on it, taking the proof as a red smudge appears there.
His answer is nothing more than a guttural, annoyed growl, his head shaking slightly.
"You two, get out of here before my manager comes," his eyes narrow, looking at Rie in specific. "It'll be a hassle to explain everything."
The last part was a hint and also a warning to her. Just thinking of his manager sends shivers down her body, when he grabbed her and dragged her into the underworld without a drop of pity. If Saruyama finds her here, she doesn't want to know what'll happen, even more if her brother gets involved.
"B-but you're-"
"Get out of my sight," Ryo's imposing tone ends the conversation there.
Rie steps ahead, grabbing her purse tossed somewhere during the fight without contesting the man's tyranny.
Rather than coming back to her brother, she walks up to the Hell Kaiser, the man who literally beat up a bunch of guys, endured a shock from a stun baton and stood undaunted. A drop of sweat delineating Haru's face, his eyes bulging out, his hand stretching in reflex as if he's gonna scold a kid for doing something stupid.
"Rie what are you doing?! Come back…"
His voice fades, both him and the duelist watching as she rummages through her purse and pulls out a folded, white handkerchief, offering it to the duelist.
There's no hiding to his astonishment, his lips splitting apart without his consent, as she looks at him, her eyes oscillate for a moment, a half curved mouth, her brows coiled up in consternation, he didn't know it it was the lighting from the building, but the brims of her eyes seemed blurry. Without realizing it, he accepted that offering, perplexed, no further words to be said.
Fastening the strap of her purse around her shoulder, she walks at decided steps to her brother, that gnarls:
"What were you thinking, Rie?! Do you have no sense of self preservation?! You-"
Ryo watches silently as she forcefully lays hold of Haru's wrist, striding to the exit of the alley, ignoring his scuffling and complaining. At this point, there was no telling whether the Hell Kaiser or her sister was the most hard boiled there with how fearlessly she approached him.
"Hey, what are you-" he's hauled along her walking speed. "Wait! Sis, wait just a moment!"
His voice gradually becomes lower and lower until he can't hear the siblings anymore. His gaze stuck on the handkerchief, dazing off. Rie didn't say a sentence, it was just a meaningless gesture, then how did this render him awestruck?
The exit door of the stadium, clunks open, he recognizes the voice calling him, Saruyama.
"Mister Ryo! I've been looking for you!"
Nonchalantly tucking the handkerchief into his inner chest pocket, he turns around replying in pure boredom:
"What took you so long?"
Saruyama's trademark smirk closes off, threading heavily towards Ryo when he sees the blood on the boy's forehead,
"Someone attacked you?" taking Ryo by the shoulders he shakes him once, to enforce his concern.
"It was just a bunch of sore losers," he shoves away the hands of his manager. "They won't bother anymore."
"Well, we can hide it with makeup, it's not bad enough to ruin your face," he puts a hand to his chin, already calculating marketing and other business ideas in his head. "Anyways…"
There's this subtlest hitch on his speech as he glimpses a thin, long strand of pink hair glued on Ryo's sleeve, picking it between two fingers, he drops it off, dusting the coat of his star with a few pats and swipes.
"This doesn't warrant a break from your underground duels. I'll make sure the media covers up for the little incident about a crazed fan trying to stab me."
"I believe you can do your job, you don't need to repeat your plans out loud," he spits in a stressed tone. "I'm tired so I'm heading home for today, we can talk another time."
The bitter mood in Ryo makes him force the corners of his lips into a smile, his gaze sharpening as he attentively watches the duelist's back becoming smaller, that smile turning into a disgusted twist on his mouth when the boy has gone away.
Oh, he knows what's going on here, what with secret meetings and keeping him in the dark, and he doesn't like it, he doesn't like all those dark secrets kept from him any bit.