Chapter III

Miscalculation

Ryo flapped the curtains open, letting the ray of sunlight spread wide over his table, then he sat down, fanning his cards over the metal, sunlight reflecting on it brighter.

Cyber Dragon's metallic design shone among the other cards as usual. Lately he's even been able to hear Cyber End's voice again. For some time, when he was still deep in the path of the Hell Kaiser, he chose to ignore it, as pained and desolated as it sounded.

He gleaned over the cards, his gaze sharpening and stopping at the Cyber darks. He heard their echoes too, voices of no sentience, angry, hungering shrieks that contaminated one's mind. Even back then, he was strong enough to resist their pull, yet, he gave power to those echoes of despair stirring from the darkness of that deck. Plus recently he's sure whenever he used those cards, a surge of dark energy coursed through his body.

Could that be the reason I felt so weak back then…?

A couple knocks on the door snapped him out of his daydreaming, a familiar voice followed:

"May I enter, Ryo? I bear offerings."

"You're welcome."

The person who opened the door was none other than Edo Phoenix, he carried a small bouquet of daffodils, his eyes inspecting the room rather quickly, a critical, analytical arch on a single brow.

"Nice room," he bobbed his head in approval, coming closer.

"I was baffled when I saw your message saying you'd come, even more now that you're actually here."

"Why?"

He took old withered flowers out of the glass vase atop Ryo's bedstand and substituted it for the fresh flowers, all while listening attentively.

"Aren't you busy, Edo?" he supported his arm on the table, almost smirking. "With the pro-leagues, I mean."

"I am, but I can spare an hour or two for a friend, you know?" he rummaged in his inner blazer's pocket, pulling out a rolled magazine. "Besides, I'm officially still a student from here."

Stretching the suspicious roll to Ryo, who gaped and took it, unfurling until a smile came to his face: the latest duel magazine mentioning card releases, new metas and current standings of duelists of the pro league, plus a lot of information.

"Thank you, they're keeping me on a dry diet of dueling world info here," Ryo scoffed.

"Yeah, I heard from Shou and the nurse," he sat down on the couch, folding his arms. "No joke, they're really trying to keep you out of touch."

"What about you? Aren't you worried bringing this here could upset me?" he paged the magazine, his gaze reading the lines while he spoke to the silver-haired teen.

"Would that ever stop you?" he closed his eyes momentarily, looking his fellow duelist directly into the eyes. "The Ryo I know would not let anything prevent him from getting back to duel."

"You understand me well."

"I'm not saying go and kill yourself with dueling, though, you should still be careful."

"I will be."

"Hm," he raised a brow in distrust. "Anyways, sheltering you from the dueling world news will just backfire, it's a recipe to make you go overboard again."

"How do you know I'd go back to dueling? I don't remember telling you any plans."

"Like you'd need to. The Hell Kaiser Ryo retiring from the pro scenario so early? That's impossible for me. You're the do or die type and we've seen where that led you."

Ryo stopped skimming through the pages of the magazine, an article catching his attention: "The disappearance of Hell Kaiser, is he making a tour through hell to come back to the leagues stronger or has he grown bored of dueling for good?"

Edo didn't sugarcoat the truth or try to obscure it from him no matter how harsh it was, he respected that attitude.

"What about you? What have you been up to, Edo?"

"I'm going on a dueling tour in a couple months, after the graduation party."

"Why wait so long?"

"I don't want to keep skipping school forever, in addition, I have my reasons. As for you, I take it you already cooked a master plan to return to the leagues?"

"Yeah, I'm working on it."

"You won't even wait to recover a bit more? I came here to visit you a couple times when you were unconscious and things looked pretty rough."

"You did? Well, I'll be careful from now on, but I don't intend to stay bedridden the rest of my life."

"Suits you."

He shrugged off, they conversed about other topics, their time in the dark world served them time to bond over small things, and to acknowledge each other as true duelists. Edo waved goodbye on his way out, giving a quick smile.

As soon as he was out, Ryo's gaze flashed to the flowers atop the bedstand.

"Daffodils, huh? A new beginning is what you're telling me?" he squinted his eyes. "Edo you sneaky…"

During the late afternoon,

Rie stood at the beach, her plain black shoes grainy with sand, the wind blew her hair high, her gem-stud emerald green earrings whipping the air, her eyes almost melted as she watched the sun in the horizon.

So many thoughts crossed her mind, what happened at the island with gates to other dimensions opening, the missing students who had been found, how Ryo was unconscious at the shore and lastly, the main reason why she came to this middle of nowhere: her father.

Even though she already met Ryo and ascertained he was fine, there was this tingling curiosity she couldn't shake off, nevertheless, his brother only invited her twice and Ryo himself seemed unamused in her company.

You can't barge into someone's life like that, Rie, even if you're worried about them.

Sighing in dismay, she closed her eyes devising another strategy. She had to ask an important question to someone who studied in the academy a couple years ago. Yet, she had met a barrier every time she asked that question, ending up with no new information.

Someone has to know…

A familiar voice intruded her ears, startling her, her head winding to the side, to a slope leading to the beach from where Shou waved enthusiastically, with a companion by his side, none less than his brother, in a wheelchair.

"Hello! I didn't know you hung around here," Shou commented scratched his face abashedly.

Rie greeted them with a quick smile, a bit troubled as the coincidence caught her by surprise.

That's right, he's still pretending to be on leave due to personal problems, officially, isn't it? Those empty locations are the only ones he must be allowed to come to…

"Why did you come to such a remote place?"

Ryo asked, looking around to find no one else, she smiled wryly, flashing her gaze away from the wheelchair after she caught herself staring too idly at it. He gaped momentarily, resuming his reticent behavior.

It must be hard on him…

[I told you before, I come here when I need to think.]

"Is something bothering you at work?" Shou inquired genuinely worried. "Or someone?"

[It is not work related, but family related.]

"Do you have family around here? In the duel academy?" he pointed to the ground, in awe.

[My brother is enrolled in the academy, he is in his second year now. Our father used to teach here.]

"Your father is a teacher?"

Ryo was now also invested, puzzled even, his brows furrowing slightly, trying to figure out who it could be.

[Was. He passed away.]

"Oh, our condolences," Shou gulped dryly, nervous about touching upon the delicate subject.

[It's okay. It's been a couple years.]

"A couple years…" Ryo put a hand to his chin, not shying away from the topic. "It's possible that either me or Shou studied under his guidance. What was his name?"

[Daitokuji.]

Shou's jaw dropped and Ryo paled, a movie of memories from the seven stars flowing through him, his whole body tensing at the reminiscence of Camula and the shadow duels. Rie's eyes squinted slightly, afflicted at the possibility they knew something she didn't.

"I didn't know professor Daitokuji had kids."

Ryo stared into the horizon for a moment, as if reminiscing something he dared not speak about.

I'm onto something here…

Whenever she questioned newer students, they wouldn't even flinch telling her they knew nothing about the professor, some older students gave very bland responses showcasing they were not that close with her father, but a few people, and very few that she could count on her fingers, exhibited this oddest reaction, like they were trying to hide something, now the siblings join this group.

Shou's unusually loud voice burst her daydreaming, he sweated and waved a hand at himself from heat.

"Who's your brother?"

[Haru Kinomoto. He's a second year, yellow Ra dorm, pink hair like me.]

"Ah, yeah, I know him, I was still in the Ra when he appeared there," Shou hammered his own hand. "You two look alike now that you mention…"

As awkward as it was, she felt the urge to reinforce her main concern, despite Shou's attempt to deviate from the topic.

[So, did you know my father?]

"Yeah, we both had lectures with him."

Ryo answered, his gaze wandering aloof in the sea at the horizon, his fists clenching the armrest of the wheelchair.

"He was… A good professor…"

"It must be nice that you can work in a place where your brother is," Shou dismissed the topic yet again.

She nodded firmly, smiling out of politeness, knowing she wouldn't get far inquiring them about it, typing and displaying her last message.

[I will leave you two alone now.]

"Wait a moment!" Shou exclaimed. "Do you… Have free time now?"

[Right now?] she averted her gaze to the side, considering her answer, finishing with an affirmative sway of her head.

"Then, could you help me a bit?"

Ryo flinched, turning his head back to glare at his brother, predicting where this was going.

"Shou…?"

"Look, it would help a lot if she can take you back, I have some unfinished projects that need attention for my current assignments and it's not like we haven't talked plenty already, right?"

She pointed at Ryo, curling that finger back into her hand upon meeting that frowned expression of his.

[Take him back to the medical center?]

"Yes, nurse Ayukawa should be waiting for us, so all you need to do is help him back."

"Shou," he repeated, in a graver tone, softening his voice as he spoke the next part. "Rie, you don't need to do this."

"Please," he clasped his hands apologetically. "I trust you'll take good care of my older brother."

He put me on the spot on purpose, didn't he? Are students really that busy? Well, Haru also rants quite often about difficult assignments, so I guess I could give him a hand…

Her lips coiled up unconsciously after reminding herself of her brother, giving a committed nod. Wasn't she just searching for an excuse to talk to Ryo at this point? Still, she would cling to this chance since he does know something about her father.

He's doing his best to find excuses to make me spend time with his brother, but what is he up to?

"I'll see you tomorrow, brother!"

Shou chuckled happily, hurrying out of the place as fast as his Vehicroids, the sound of the waves crashing at the rocks complemented Ryo's irritated frown along with the awkward silence that followed.

Ryo tilted his face slightly, his profile only partially visible. "You shouldn't let people drag you into their business, to do their work."

Oh, he's pissed.

[Should we go or do you want to stay here a bit longer?]

With an hesitant smile, she showed the message to him, not knowing what went through his head when he just stared at the nothingness of the ocean with his blank, unfathomable expression.

Sighing tiredly, he finally replied. "Let's head back, so you don't have to spend the rest of the day here."

At a loss of what to do, she accessed the surroundings, locating the hill where they descended from, her hands twitching open and closed before she landed them on the handles of his wheelchair, she'd never have the experience of pushing someone around like that.

"I'll walk there myself."

Propelling himself up from the armrest of the chair, he was hampered by a pair of hands holding back his shoulders, he glanced at her, she pushed him down until he plopped onto his seat, swinging her head in denial, patting his shoulders tenderly as if meaning for him to stay sitting.

[The road is too steep.]

The clacking noise of her quick typing left him on edge for what she was trying to say.

[You can't force yourself this much. Don't worry, I carry heavy stuff for my job all the time.]

He lowered his gaze, a tad disappointed in himself, a tiny blush prickling on his cheeks.

"I'm counting on you, then."

A bit prideful, are we?

Rie wrapped her hands firmly around the handles of the wheelchair, pushing it upwards the faintly inclined slope that became more and more obtuse as the road went on.

He caught a glimpse of her dainty framed hands from his peripheral vision. Shou had a petite build, yet somehow Rie's fingers managed to look even slimmer.

"Am I not too heavy?" he questioned, looking ahead aloofly.

Bending to the side of his shoulder she swayed her head in denial, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. Rather than chatting like most people would, Ryo indulged in the silence of their interaction; the sound of small rocks crackling under the wheels, of the leaves rustling and of the strong breeze, it gave him time to ponder.

By the time they arrived, nurse Ayukawa was waiting at the door, and she greeted them with a smile. While she went in the facility to prepare the checkup for Ryo, an unexpected, bold suggestion came from his part, the most insipid expression as he spoke, a dull stare at her:

"Why don't you come in? You must be tired towing me that whole way, how about you rest a bit before you go?"

I have the feeling this has nothing to do with tiredness. Why are those brothers so hard to understand?

With a reluctant swing of her head, she said a no, but what he told her next piqued her interest:

"I thought you'd be curious to hear more about professor Daitokuji..."

Those collected, calculated words, pulling the right strings inside her, his lips dripped a bewitching venom, luring her into his schemes. Despite knowing that it was a bad idea, she stepped forward, the faintest smile flashing on his face, conceited and victorious.

Rie sat at the couch, he also sat there, on the opposite corner as if giving her space, from his standoffish demeanor one would deduce he did not have anything important to add about her father, however she had this impression he held a secret together with his sibling.

She tapped her feet on the ground, her fingers jumping from key to key, her gaze often switching to the side, avoiding his sharp, confident eyes.

[You want to tell me more about my father?]

"I know what happened to your father."

Her eyes widened, her color eluding her. [Why didn't you say so before?]

"Shou probably thought he was sparing you from getting hurt," he analyzed, blinking sluggishly. "But I digress. Letting you go without ever getting closure, I think this is far more cruel."

His words sounded dreadful, the placid tone in which he spoke turned it even more terrifying to hear, her brows twisted up worriedly of what she was about to hear.

[Why do you say so?]

"A lot happened, you may not believe me even if I describe in detail to you, and I'm not sure if you'll find it satisfactory."

[Why would you willingly tell me this if it's so bad?]

"Because you deserve the truth, Rie."

She gaped, amused at his brazen affirmation. Nonetheless, Rie wasn't naive enough to trust he was doing it out of pure goodwill.

[What do you want in exchange?]

He smiled faintly, she was clever and caught wind of things fast. "Would you do me a favor too?"

So we're negotiating now?

His face looked peaceful, but his mannerisms were shrewd and crude. Offering her the bait, then proposing a trade.

"I want you to help me with dueling. More specifically, I want you to help me get back in shape for longer duels."

[I'm sorry, I don't understand how I could help you.]

"The doctors said I shouldn't duel, but if I stay still like this, nothing will change."

He stared at his own palm, closing his fist tightly, then gazed into her eyes, putting his expectations on her. The weight of that gaze, she disliked it, even if it was an exchange for the truth about her father.

She shuddered briefly. [Shouldn't you wait a bit longer? Plus I'm not a specialist, wouldn't your brother or your friends be a better option to ask this?]

He shook his head. "They won't listen to me, nobody will. But at this rate, I might as well drop out of the leagues. I need to practice. This is why I need a third party that has no stakes in this."

[Of course, they are concerned about your health. Aren't you worried too?]

"I am more worried about not being able to duel," he arched his brows in helplessness. "Holograms can be quite disturbing even for seasoned duelists and specially if you are under stress it eventually gets to your head… Every now and then some duelists develop fear for it to the point they faint during or after duels. Did you know that?"

Swinging her head, a tad scared of his depiction of troubles duelists could face, she grimaced, biting her lower lip.

[Are you affected by that?]

"Something of the sort. In my case, because duels can be so exciting, you see, my heart races, especially with all the visuals, but as weakened as I am currently, this isn't a good thing, my endurance in duels has lowered… That's why I need to compulsively train."

[Compulsively?] she questioned with a soundly gulp, the word didn't sound that friendly for a recovering person.

"Yeah, but nobody will help me with that, given how sensitive they feel whenever my heart issues are a topic. This is why… I want your help."

[But if your heart can't take the holograms, you could die from it, right?]

"Probably. This is precisely why I need to retrain it."

His unfazed expression as he talked so easily about death left her appalled, her blood pressure rising, her clicks on the keys becoming so strong he flinched at the clacks:

[Do you not care if you die like this?!]

She insisted, her eyebrows bending consternated. Sure she imagined a pro duelist would love their job, but isn't this too much?

"Shou and everyone thought if I have company, I'll get distracted, but dueling is all I want," his gaze drifted into the distance, beyond that window, to a realm far from her scope.

All you want? Even if you die young for it? This is insane…

"I can't think of myself doing anything else in my life, besides," he mumbled the last part inaudibly, squinting his eyes slightly. "I already died once anyways…"

[Is this why you offered to tell me about my father? You want to enlist my help because nobody else will listen to your crazed wishes?]

He scoffed, the Rie in front of him now was different from that shy girl that entered his room before, who'd blush just by glancing at him when speaking her mind out, he liked that.

"Ah, don't misunderstand me. Even if you do not accept to do me this favor, I will still tell you about the professor, if you're ready to listen."

Her eyes broadened at his nonchalant confession. He was prepared to tell her regardless of her answer, then why did he let her know all this?

[What if I refuse?]

A tiny smile spread on his lips. "I'll just do it on my own, then."

[Alone?]

"Yes, alone."

So this is it? You offered me help because you knew I would feel compelled to accept if I knew you'd be doing it anyways.

Her mouth curled down sourly. [This is a very low blow, Ryo Marufuji.]

"Have you not read the magazines? What they wrote about me? About The Hell Kaiser?"

Was he measuring me from the beginning? Gauging my reactions, how would I respond to this? So this is… The Hell Kaiser Ryo, a ruthless duelist.

[I didn't trust the tabloids, they lie very often.]

"That I'm willing to do anything to duel, that wasn't a lie."

That undisturbed, placid expression of his did not match the fierce fire burning in his eyes, deep down, that determination of his to go through any lengths just to be a duelist on the leagues once more. He isn't who she thought he was. Ryo Marufuji was a complex character and she had this impression that this was just the top layer of it.

"Well, you don't need to answer me now. I'm not asking you to drop everything else to help me either, just come here whenever you have some free time, I'll tell you the intricacies of it."

She flinched awake from her inner thoughts, swinging her head as if to tell him to stop and giving her final answer:

[I'll help you, okay? I won't let you risk yourself like that alone.]

He smiled guiltily. "You're too kind of a soul, Rie."

Both you brothers, putting me on the spot like that! I hate it! But if I let him to his devices…

A drop of sweat trickled down her face, her heart had this utmost certainty that he'd kill himself if that's what it took for him to get into shape for the leagues again. Her mind was befuddled, he was so desperate, despite his unfazed semblance, so much he was counting on a practical stranger. Why are men such obstinate, rash creatures?

Telling his brother or friends what he was up to would be the same as dealing a killing blow to his spirit and consequently, to his life as a duelist. No matter how much she disagreed with his plans, she was in a tight spot to find an alternative, for now at least.

[I have one condition.]

"A condition?"

[No, better yet, I want you to promise me one thing.]

The way she worded it, it caught his attention. Why would she put a condition? Considering how he was using her to his own benefit, it wouldn't be weird if she wanted extra compensation for her work.

[If you start feeling too bad, we will postpone the task for another day. You still shouldn't exert yourself too much.]

"Is that all?" his eyes widened in surprise.

Her head tilted a teensy bit to the side, puzzled at him, then she nodded with a steady shake of her head.

[I will help you, but I don't want to be the cause of your death. And I don't want you to kill yourself either.]

"Don't worry, I won't die that easily this time around."

This time around? What does that even mean?

Prodding her head towards him, demanding a more proper, formal answer, she awaited him with an eager gaze.

"Right, I promise. We will stop and resume another time if things get too hectic for me."

Stretching her hand to seal the agreement, he took that hand onto his, exchanging a handshake. Her fingers twiddled abashed as she looked up to him, now that his part of the bargain was settled...

[Can you tell me what you know about my father?]

"Sure," he taped his finger on the cushions of the seat, taking a moment to reorganize his thoughts. "I want you to remain sitting, alright? This is gonna be a long story…"

Rie swallowed harshly her saliva, the tension peaking high from the moment he started the tale. As she listened to every single word coming from his mouth, her expression metamorphosed from simple worry to an afflicted glint flickering inside her eyes.

There was so much she didn't know about her father, some of which she wished remained unknown to her, still, she had to take it off her head, as Ryo expertly named: "to get closure".

Much of it was unbelievable, but as she watched Ryo's standoff, yet serious face narrating the events, she couldn't come to think of him as a liar. By the end of it, she had a headache. He noticed her discomfort, but told her everything, once he finished, his gaze set on her again.

"Are you fine?" he asked, folding his arms. "Though, this might be a dumb question…"

It was obvious she wasn't, the corners of her eyes were red, filled with tears that threatened to drop. Massaging her temples in an attempt to rid of her pain, with a churned stomach and a sorrowful twirl on her brows, she put up a polite smile.

[I will be. Thank you for telling me this.]

"What do you intend to do now that you know it? Will you tell that to your brother?"

[No, not now at least.]

I need time to digest all this. More importantly, I need time to myself.

"It's okay if you need to cry or talk about this."

She appreciated the fact he did not shield her from the truth just because she was a girl. But those last couple sentences of his, it was clear he carried this responsibility within him that the minimum he could do was listen to her, the professor's daughter, in respect to him.

Like a ripple of water touching her heart, it was relieving to know that her father had people who once admired and trusted him, his beloved students.

[I just need some time, my feelings will be sorted out on their own.]

"Is that so?" a smile flashed on his face. "You're free to come whenever you want, if you still wish to talk about this."

After a short pause, her gaze locked onto his again, a resolute glimmer abiding her eyes, her fist closed tightly.

[The next time I come here, it'll be to help you.]

He snorted at her cute way to show her mind was set on this, she fussed while typing a message.

[I m not jokng.]

"I'm not making fun of you," he corrected himself. "I'll see you soon, then. I'm looking forward to it."

Like that, the sun was setting when she left. She cast a last gaze at his profile before crossing the threshold of the door, bathed in the lukewarm sunlight breaking through the windows, a mysterious air to him and also, a lonely aura.

Maybe all duelists were this disagreeable and incomprehensible, but whether he would succeed in his efforts or not, if it would be in vain or if he made the wrong choice in pushing forward too soon after his heart issues had taken a turn for the better, only time would tell.

I'll hold that promise over his head if needed.