Chapter Text
ACT ONE
Act One OP Song:
Block out the night all the boring noise that calls me to the world outside
Better not to try, just let me stay alone and well-hidden--shun thе light
And look, right there the crosswalk’s waiting, “plеase, hurry up” and come to me
The curb restrains and binds my body cut my ties and set me free, I need--
Oh, not again, now the train’s gone and left
And the cities too far to walk to the end, while I
Can’t call to mind all the words if I try, I find
To pocket them will keep them all alive
Wheeze through the night as my lungs burn inside
As I fake through the day that never subsides if I
Can’t call to mind all the words or the lines, I’ll try
To ride the train wherever it will go tonight
(Will Stetson, "Lagtrain- English Cover")
A clock ticked in the corner of the office, the sun starting to set and casting the room in dull, orange hues. “How do you feel right now, Rio?” Her therapist asked.
“I feel great,” Rio lied effortlessly. She’d been through this before a few times over the past week, ever since she began to recover fully in the aftermath of the World Duel Carnival. She was lucky, she supposed, in that she didn’t fully remember the night that landed her in the hospital- it would be a bit harder to lie in order to advance through physical and mental recovery faster if she had been able to recall the exact sensation of being immolated.
But it wasn’t entirely a lie, Rio mused as the hospital-mandated therapy appointment went on. Sure, she was partly blind in her left eye. She had scars racing across much of her body, including patches on her face that were still healing. She had sustained severe nerve damage on her left side. Her stamina was shot thanks to smoke inhalation in her lungs, meaning she had to heavily regulate physical activity, and she would likely spend the next decade in and out of the hospital working to regain full control of her body and working to repair the worst of the damage, physically and mentally. It could still be worse, she thought wryly.
She could have lost her sense of humor. That would truly be the worst casualty of this waking nightmare.
The doctor looked up at her from over their glasses. “We’ve gone over this in prior sessions, Miss Kamishiro, but it is important to stress this, especially if you are determined to leave as soon as you’re cleared. You’re allowed to not be at 100%, and what’s going to be important on your road to recovery is that you’re aware of that. Be careful about your limits, as trying to exceed them could likely land you right back here- and then no one would win.”
Rio forced herself to nod along. She got it, really. No one would fault her for spending the rest of the school year at home while she recovered, Ryoga bringing her homework along (it’d be a great way to make sure he stopped skipping class) so she could start with a clean slate in April next year. Going in now on a logical level would invite the worst reactions to her injuries- Rio knew children were cruel, sometimes not on purpose and plenty of times maliciously cruel.
But she was… tired - emotionally rather than physically. Tired of the same walls, the same sterile environments, tired of how Ryoga treated her like fragile porcelain and looked at her like she’d give up the ghost and die if she did anything more physically strenuous than walk to the window and back. She wanted out of this stupid building. She wanted her life back- and if she couldn’t get that, she wanted a life for her own, at least.
Rio forced herself to swallow. “I understand Doctor Tanaka. But I think this is ultimately the best choice to make. If my brother and I decide later on that this was a mistake, I can check back in. But for now, I do believe I’m ready to go.”
Her therapist took down several notes, before clicking their pen closed and closing the notebook. “In that situation, as you’ve been found physically fit and mentally sound, I’m issuing a release notice. We’ll be in touch soon regarding follow-up appointments and medication, and if you feel the need for it in the coming weeks or months, a weekly appointment with a therapist.”
Rio let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. “Thank you Doctor.”
“You’re welcome.” The therapist gathered their equipment and started packing a satchel bag. “I’ll also pass along a message to your brother to pick you up. You should be cleared for discharge by tomorrow morning.”
Rio said her goodbyes and left, an orderly guiding her back to her room. It’d be good to be back in normal clothes, and back outside of the hospital. It’d be the first step on her road to really recovering.
The old family manor was still abandoned, barring a cleaning/maintenance service that went in once a year to keep the place from falling apart. Ryoga and Rio would gain full ownership of it when they turned 18, but neither were eager to return to it, so Ryoga had talked one of their parents’ relatives from out of town to sign a lease for an apartment near the school so they could stay in Heartland.
When Ryoga opened the door and let her in the next day, Rio noted how little had changed, as if it was still the day she went off to duel Thomas Arclight. Ryoga’s obnoxious purple throw blanket was still draped over the back of the sofa, the TV had a news channel on in the background, and the balcony window was left partly open to let the breeze in. Things were different when she took a deeper look though- the throw blanket was far more crumpled and one of the coffee tables had been dragged over, almost as if Ryoga had been sleeping more and more on the couch. The colors were less vibrant, everything a bit blurrier on one side. Peeking into her room also showed a few changes- the bed, previously in the middle of the room, had become pressed up against the corner wall, with almost everything essential left on what would be the right side when lying on it.
“Doc mentioned your left arm was a bit weaker, so I moved some stuff around so you’d be able to rely on your right,” Ryoga muttered, looking away as he saw Rio inspecting her room. “Hope it’s OK I went in.”
“I mean as long as you didn’t choose to sneak a peek my diary again,” she shot back instinctively, noting the slight surprise that crossed Ryoga’s face before he resumed his look of enforced teenage indifference. “But thanks. I could have helped, I know you had a chest injury after the Duel Carnival-”
“No. I had it under control,” he says bluntly. “Docs also said to make sure you keep pressure off it, so I’ll try to help keep an eye on it. And besides, that chest wound was fine.”
Rio hid a frown at that and at Ryoga’s dismissiveness over his own health- she could regulate her own usage of her arm, she’d already had to learn as part of her physio- but she let it slide. Ryoga had been worried, he probably had a lot of time to kill and was just trying to help. She could get him off her back later once it settled in that she was back and not about to crumble into dust.
“Well, thanks,” she eventually said, heading back to the kitchen unit. “I’m starving though. Wanna order out?”
“Sure. Menus are–”
“Still beside the microwave? I know,” she shot over her shoulder.
Ryoga caught himself and chuckled. “Yeah. You pick tonight, your treat.”
“I’m hearing onions on my pizza then,” she said in a mocking singsong.
“I will throw you off the roof,” Ryoga countered without any venom. “No jury would try me and I’d break the 99% conviction rate.”
“At least I’d make a beautiful corpse.” Rio scribbled down an order on a notepad page and passed it off to Ryoga. “Since you’re the only one with a working Gazer right now, you can make the call.”
“Nah,” Ryoga said as he walked past her and reached into one of the overhead cabinets, “I got you covered.” He passed over a sloppily wrapped box to Rio- complete with icicle wrapping that he probably had to scrounge to find in the middle of July-, failing to hide a smirk. Rio pulled the wrapping open, eyes widening at a fresh new Duel Gazer that had a silver frame and purple lens.
“This is… wow.”
“More than that,” Ryoga said, almost stumbling over some of his words, “It’s designed for people with sensory problems. It does a more direct interface with your optic nerves,, some technobabble stuff I didn’t fully get, but the clerk said it should help with any vision problems. Just in… you know, in case you wanna pick up Dueling again.”
Rio hummed in acknowledgement, running her thumbs over the Gazer. “I did and I do. It’ll help a lot. A tattoo might help as well-” Rio catches Ryoga’s expression jolting at that, “... once my scars heal up. I doubt any of my doctors would be happy to see me with a Gazer Tattoo next time we meet. But thanks.”
“I’d rather you not just for the heart attack that nearly gave me,” Ryoga muttered. As Rio began the installation and setup process on her Gazer, curled up on the couch, Ryoga made the call for the delivery, setting up some plates, drinks and cutlery instinctively. Right as Rio finished installing the mandatory updates, the doorbell rang.
Rio let Ryoga handle it, slipping her new Duel Gazer over her left eye. It thrummed to life, searching for a Duel Disk to connect to instinctively and turning up blank. Rio scrolled through the settings, noticing a few extra modifications this model had over the one she’d had… Before. She turned off a few- her eye worked fine enough that she didn’t need a text to speech feature enabled- but did turn on a few color filters that cast her left vision in a slightly brighter hue and dimmed the display to put less pressure on her eye. She looked around experimentally, humming in appreciation, before saving the settings as Ryoga came back with two boxes of pizza.
Eating solid food outside of a hospital was a welcome relief, especially something as simple as an onion-slathered pizza (she knew Ryoga had checked her order twice before making it to ensure none of his was touched by that vegetable). As they made their way through their meals, Rio cleared her throat.
“So tell me about school. Did anything major happen? Make any friends- besides more gangsters?”
“The gang thing happened one time ,” he muttered bitterly. “Otherwise, one of the teachers in the year below me tried to hack the power grid for a prank.”
“I’m guessing I can’t use that as an excuse to get out of CompSci if he teaches me.”
“Uh, I stopped a museum heist-”
“Regular patron of the arts, Ryoga Kamishiro.”
“Had my soul stolen by a guy with ice-cream hair-”
“I don’t know which of those statements to dissect more between the hair or the soul thing.”
“Eh, I walked it off a day later. I got a B in my last English class.”
“Neat.”
“Oh, and friend wise? Well, no one. But that brat Yuma hangs around enough that people think we’re friends.”
That was Ryoga for “I made a friend, but toxic masculinity means I refuse to admit it.” Rio hid her smile behind her hand. “Well tell me about him, I only know a bit from the Duel Carnival.”
“He’s a spontaneous idiot with nothing between his ears but that stupid swordfish haircut. He’s hyper, energetic, perpetually optimistic and he has the dueling talent of a rank novice.”
“And yet… he beat you.”
“And yet, he beat me,” Ryoga conceded. “Twice.”
“Wow.”
“Don’t get used to it, I’m still gonna kick your ass whenever we Duel.”
“Ryoga, did our parents not teach you better than to pick on a disabled girl?”
“They also taught me never to give you an inch or you’ll take a mile, so don’t try and play the pity card.”
“Ha. But Yuma sounds nice.”
“He…” Ryoga scoffed. “He could be worse, I guess.”
A high compliment from Ryoga. Rio smirked again. “Meet anyone else these last few months?”
“Well the guy who stole my soul… is still a dick, but we started chatting after the Duel Carnival. His name’s Kaito, he’s fine. I think he’s compensating for how short he is given he’s 18 and barely taller than me.”
Rio recalled the images of Kaito taken at the World Duel Carnival. “Wait. He’s 18?”
“I know, right? His legs do not like him. Easy way to tick him off if you wanna say you’ve made an adult have beef with you. He has a younger brother, too. That kid’s nice, if a bit weird.”
Rio saved the height information in her ever-evolving playbook of psychological warfare tactics, before gesturing for Ryoga to continue.
“Oh yeah, Yuma’s Dork Patrol of friends.” He rattled off a few names and glib remarks quickly, before pausing. “And there’s Kotori. She has the one solitary brain cell in that group. I think you’ll like her. She’s… substantially more tolerable than the rest of them.”
“Oh? Well I’ll keep an eye out then.” Rio looked up from the slice she was about to eat. “Any chance I can meet them before school?”
Ryoga shrugged. “I’m sure Yuma would run halfway across town if I indicated an interest in Dueling him, and where he goes Kotori follows so… yeah. Got anywhere you wanna go in particular?”
“I was thinking the mall over on Seventh, the one with the big dome? The school wrote and said I could add some modifications to my uniform ahead of coming back so I wanna go to a tailor.”
Ryoga nodded, reaching out for a notepad and scribbling out a few notes. “Yeah, I remember reading that when it got to you in the hospital. I could do a grocery run while I’m at it. Any ideas yet on what you’ll do to your uniform?”
“A few. Just gonna play it safe for now, but you’ll see it when we get back. Otherwise…” she paused, tapping a finger against her chin. “Let’s not commit too much. It’ll be a big scene change from a hospital to a mall so I don’t wanna over-exert myself.”
Ryoga paused in his notes, awkwardly reaching out and placing a hand over Rio’s. “You recover at your own pace. Don’t force yourself to go past any of your limits, OK?”
Rio smiled softly. “I know, bro. But I do wanna meet the ever-illusive Yuma Tsukumo.”
Ryoga rolled his eyes. “You two meeting’s gonna be the death of me, I can feel it.”
“Please,” Rio scoffed. “I’ll only tell him the good embarrassing stories.”
Ryoga’s eyes narrowed and a growl slipped past his lips as Rio laughed to herself.
As was always the case with Yuma, Kotori thought fondly, today had started somewhat normal before randomly U-turning to the unexpected. What had begun as just a day of catching up on chores with her mother was intercepted by Yuma near-barrelling into their front lawn, excitedly proclaiming that Shark was, willingly no less, offering to socialize with him. Kotori was pretty sure if Yuma had been hooked up to a generator right then he’d have fuelled Heartland for a year off sheer positive energy alone.
What had intrigued Kotori though, beyond her already wanting to go to support Yuma during the inevitable duel he’d wrangle out of Shark, was that his sister would be present, fresh out of the hospital, and they were invited to get the chance to meet her ahead of Rio coming to school. Kotori got the underlying message of Shark’s message when she swiped Yuma’s Duel Gazer, reading into it to get the idea that Shark wanted people Rio knew ahead of going back to school so she’d know at least some friendly faces in the crowd. Shark had also included a photo of Rio so they’d know who to look for at the mall, and so, as he curtly put it in the message, “You can get any gawking you need done out of the way because I will throw you off an escalator if you so much as look funny at her.”
Kotori admired Shark’s protectiveness as she looked over the photo, having sent it to her own Gazer so Yuma could reclaim his and babble with Astral about a new strategy he’d been preparing for Shark’s deck while they walked to the mall. She could see the similarities between Shark and his sister- Rio had less overall harsh features, but the same point to their chin and the same casually arrogant expression that indicated an expectation of superiority- like a pair of emperors overseeing their territory. The photo of Rio had her wearing a loose turtleneck and gloves alongside a flowing dress and stockings. The scars on her face and neck were visible, running up the left side of her face up to her eye. Kotori frowned at the image, but got why the Kamishiros had sent it- to get the immediate reactions out of the way. Shark had mentioned once that Rio hated being looked down on, so Kotori figured that meant not bringing it up unless Rio did.
(Despite it all, and to Kotori’s confusion, her heart-rate shot up when she saw Rio and the casual smile on her face. It must have been hot today, she decided as she felt her face flush)
Her deliberations (and an incidental research spree into treatment for burns out of curiosity), kept Kotori busy all the way to the mall, where a large glass dome loomed over a winding maze of escalators that connected each floor.
“Isn’t this the mall where you first saw Kaito?” Kotori muttered to herself.
“Oh yeah!” Yuma noted cheerfully. “The way he came in was so cool, diving in with Orbital like nyoom, krash and then landing like a cool shonen rival!”
“After which,” Astral murmured dryly for only Yuma and Kotori’s ears, “he proceeded to steal a man’s soul over a Number.”
“Eh, he feels sorry about it,” Yuma said airily. “And besides, the guy was a criminal!”
“Yuma, I don’t believe that excuses the property damage, let alone the aforementioned stealing of a person’s soul!”
The two kept bickering until they got to the food court, where Shark was waiting, oddly tense. His eyes found them quickly (Kotori had shot a quick message as they entered the building, the latest in an odd string of texts the two shared in a group chat he’d mockingly called “Yuma’s brain cell managerial club.”) and nodded at the two teens and the floating ghost.
“Yo,” he said casually. “We’re doing some errands around the place but just stopped for a bite. Hungry?”
“You bet Shark! And always hungry for a duel too-”
“Maybe later Yuma,” Shark interjected, a bit more curt than usual. “If Rio starts flagging I wanna get her back so she’s not too exhausted. I can’t get bogged down with a duel.”
“Oh…” Yuma sagged for a minute before shooting back up. “But if she’s still good after your errands, maybe we can? And in the meantime, can we help out with anything you’ve got left to do?”
Shark sighed. “Fine, you can help with a few things, but no promises about that duel. Let’s just grab a bite.”
The trio ordered before heading back to the table where Rio was sitting, typing away at a Duel Gazer. As they approached, Rio looked up and flashed a smile at them.
“Hi, you must be Yuma and Kotori! Ryoga’s told me a lot about you. I’m Rio, the cooler sibling.”
Shark rolled his eyes while Yuma started chattering away, introducing himself. Kotori felt her breath catch in her throat as Rio smiled, her heartbeat racing again and a flush building up the back of her neck before launching into the conversation. Rio was… captivating. The way her fingers brushed her hair back, her casual smirk as she bantered with Ryoga, that morphed into a genuine, friendly smile as she spoke to Yuma and Kotori. Witty, sharp, confident, and earnest in equal measure. Kotori was hooked on every word before she even realized that Rio had thrown out bait to be hooked with . Despite that, Kotori found she didn’t really mind. It felt good to be around Rio, to banter with her and learn Ryoga’s embarrassing secrets (alongside his hatred of onions, she’d remember that if she ever cooked for him in a group context). Rio had her chin propped on her right hand, eyes gleaming as she spoke animatedly.
The food court started to clear up, leaving an open area nearby. Yuma, having changed tactics, finally succeeded in badgering Shark into a duel while the rest of them sat down, Astral floating over as the two set up their Duel Disks.
“Your friend’s stubborn,” Rio murmured casually. “It’s a good trait to have, especially with someone like my brother. He’s been obsessing over making sure I’m OK all day so he’s not had a chance to breathe for himself. He really needed this.” She flashes Kotori a smile that makes her heart skip a beat. “So thanks. And make sure I thank Yuma for this as well, especially if I get to see my brother eat dirt.” The two laughed at that.
“Well, Yuma’s built his life around the idea that a good duel can help anyone. With the amount of people I’ve seen him win over through dueling, I don’t think he’s wrong.”
“So should I worry when he sees me walking around with a Duel Disk on my arm?” Rio said with a wry smirk.
“Oh, it’s a matter of when and not if,” Kotori said teasingly. “He’s predictable about it. He loves to insist you can learn about someone through how they play.”
Rio chuckled. “I’ll have to take him up on that- once I’m cleared to.” The second part came out as a more bitter mutter.
Kotori tilted her head. “I didn’t wanna ask about it unless you brought it up, but your injuries, do they…” she stumbled for the right words, “get in the way of dueling?”
“You’re allowed to ask whatever you want, I’ll tell you if you ever ask something I’m not cool with answering,” Rio said. “It’s kinda hard to avoid. But… yeah, I can’t wear a Disk for a while or do a standing duel. Nerve damage compounded with muscle atrophy. It’ll be a few weeks before I’m cleared for it thanks to the physicality of AR duels.”
“I can imagine. It’s one of the reasons I don’t duel a lot myself.”
That attracted Rio’s interest away from the duel they were watching, as Shark summoned out Black Ray Lancer. “Can you play at all? Or do you prefer observing?”
“I’ve learned the basics,” Kotori said, a bit defensively. “Hard not to when you’re around Yuma- especially when he was starting out, he was a very slow learner. But no, my deck isn't that great and I’m rusty with the more complex mechanics.”
Rio hummed in understanding. “That sucks. I’d be willing to teach you if you’re interested. Would be a good way to keep my skills sharp while I wait to get the all-clear to duel again.”
“I- I’d… I’d like that a lot, if that’s OK with you.” Kotori stammered over her words but flashed a tentative smile at Rio over it. “It’s very kind of you to offer.”
“Great!” Another beaming smile aimed at Kotori that sent her brain spiraling a thousand directions. Some deep part of her subconscious whispered: I want to make her smile like that again. She stamped on that part until it shut up for nowl. “I’ll give you my contact information so we can meet up whenever. I won’t be super busy after school besides homework so give me a shout whenever and we can meet up.”
“Sounds good-”
They both looked over at a series of shouts, as Yuma was sent back, nearly flying right over a table. He caught himself on the edge and transitioned near-seamlessly into a handstand, grinning with wild audacity at Shark as he prepared a counter-attack (Kotori suddenly remembered hearing a gymnastics teacher lament Yuma’s agility being wasted on a Dueling field- “Forget the cards Yuma, my Aerobics team needs you!”). All the while, a feral grin stretched across Ryoga’s face in turn as he ensnared Yuma in a trap that chipped away at Yuma’s remaining Life Points. Neither were summoning their Numbers for this duel, but Yuma was making the most out of the monster he borrowed from Gauche- Excalibur, Kotori thought it was called?-, while Shark rotated between a seemingly endless array of Sharks that came out from his Extra Deck.
“Well. Looks like they’re having fun,” Kotori remarked blithely, which made Rio laugh earnestly.
“Boys and their toys, right?” she managed to wheeze out. “I can’t tell if they want to kill each other or kiss each other. Granted, I’m probably no better when I get into the zone like that.”
‘I’d like to see that,’ Kotori thought to herself, jolting as the implications of that thought crept in a minute later. She stored that thought away for introspection at a later date.
“Well, it’s hard to tell with Yuma sometimes- I think his first love was a Starter Deck as a kid- but he’s formed some genuinely deep bonds with people he duels,” is what she actually said. She’d seen first-hand what Yuma had done to seeming enemies through Duels, from Michael Arclight all the way to Shark. He had a talent, that much couldn’t be denied, of drawing people to him. He’d even managed to reach out to people Kotori would have otherwise considered morally reprehensible, like Kaito during the darkest days of his Number Hunting or Tron. Was it entirely wise? No, but Yuma made it almost look natural.
Another wave of sound rushed towards Rio and Kotori, as Yuma managed to weaken Ryoga’s Full Armored Black Ray Lancer enough that he could get the win at the last second. As he celebrated with Astral and Shark started to pick himself up, their energy spread over to the girls, who smiled at the duel results.
“He’s good,” Rio observed. “I’ll have to see what he’s like as well once I can throw on a Duel Disk without terrifying a doctor.”
“I feel you’d do that anyway,” Kotori noted coyly.
Rio laughed. “You’re right. I would. But if I keep Yuma waiting long enough he may break out a play-mat out of desperation.”
“Don’t give him any ideas,” Kotori muttered as Yuma and Shark walked up. “Great duel you two!”
Shark shrugged, still a bit sore in defeat, but it was undeniable that the tension that had been around his shoulders earlier had passed. He looked almost relaxed, if Shark ever could fully relax. “Eh, it was OK. I’ll get him next time.”
Yuma laughed, throwing an arm around Shark’s shoulders enthusiastically. “I’m sure you will Shark! I’m already raring for a rematch!”
Shark rolled his eyes, but allowed Yuma to practically hang off him as he looked to Kotori and Rio. “All set to go? Think the only thing left was getting your new uniform.”
“Yep,” Rio nodded, starting to pile up their collected waste using her right hand. “Just that and then we’re done.”
“You still feeling good to keep going, or-”
“I’m good Ryoga,” Rio interrupted brusquely. “It’s only clothes anyway.”
“Mind if we tag along?” Yuma butted in. The siblings looked at each other, mutually shrugging.
“Fine,” Shark eventually said, “But you’re on bag duty until we get back to my bike. Deal?”
“You got it Shark!” As Yuma began to scoop up some of Shark and Rio’s earlier purchases and Shark tried to keep him from “Ruining my bag system, Yuma, put that down!” Kotori quickly checked for anything more… fragile, in case Yuma’s two left feet struck again. She looked up as Rio cleared her throat.
“Kotori, would you mind… holding onto these for a bit?” Rio gestured at some of the bags she’d been sitting around, a look of reluctance crossing her face and forming into a scowl. “I’ll need my arm free for this next arm, my left’s starting to act up…” the admission looked like it was almost painful to voice as a scowl crossed Rio’s face. Kotori remembered how prideful Ryoga could be- outright ignoring everyone telling him to sit out the duel with Faker after he got a chest wound due to stubborn spite until he finally collapsed-, and realized that that compounded with her own extensive injuries meant… Rio was trusting her with this.
“Sure. Just let me know if I can take anything else for you while I’m here, but no pressure.” She smiled at that and Rio’s scowl faded, replaced with an earnest smile tinted with relief as Rio passed the bags over the table.
“Thanks, really." Rio sighed as she shook out her wrist. "I owe you for this. Ready to go?”
Kotori smiled back at Rio, her traitor heart beating faster at the success of making Rio smile at her like that again, as the quartet left the food court. “You bet.”
Could this be love at first sight?
Or should I walk by again?
You're photogenically dressed
Could this be love at first sight?
(The Brobenks, "Love At First Sight")
Act 1 ED Song:
Sitting in the back seat
We're driving so fast
Living in a daydream
It's too good to last
Rainy days and bad luck
Coming my way
I look for you when I am lost
So I don't go insane
Break me down
And I'll call you mine
And I know I've been around
And I'll call you mine, so I
Break me down
And I'll call you mine
And I know I've been around
(Girl in Red "I'll Call You Mine")