( semi-open )

[raidraptors]

Who: Kurosaki Shun (raidraptors) & o p e n, later Shun & Yuto (darkduelist)
When: IC: 12/10 - 12/11, probably
Where: Some coffee shop and the Shadiest Rooftop TM the Entertainment District has to offer
What: Shun ignores the carnival, and spends his time with finally completing the deck he's been working on for the past two weeks instead. Also, his BFF revives from the dead(!?), so tearful(!!???) reunions ensue. Alternately Shun may just call him an idiot, because he questions Yuto's life choices 5ever.
Rating/Warning: Cardgames, Arc V spoilers up to Ep45-ish maybe, except not really, but otherwise this should be tame. Probably?

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[ A - Shopping District | 12/10 – ~3-5pm | O P E N ]

[It's taken a little until Shun had stopped feeling on edge with the crowds and busyness of this district – the brightly flashing lights, the chattering of people, the sheer normality of everything... it's so much (too much) alike the Heartland of his childhood (the thought aches with bitterness, but also with longing – even destroyed as it is now, Shun misses his hometown).

By now he is much more relaxed – for his own standard anyway – enough to feel at ease laying claim of one of the tables of one of the coffee shops for an hour or three. Beside the steaming cup (#3) and half-finished slice of toast, there is a fair number of cards spread across the table. Most of them are green and purple, though there are already two neat stacks with orange and black cards at the top.

He is pretty sure that he has all that he needs to finish this deck – he knows near certain that the Tellarknights will run stable – even if they aren't nearly as aggressive, nearly as merciless as his Raid Raptors.

(But that is not the point of this deck, not at all. This deck is back-up, is what he'll say aloud if asked, but deep down he knows it's a tribute to people lost, people fallen, to the potential of things that could have been. Heartland once shone as brightly as the stars after all.)

It's just the question of what spells and traps to use, how to balance search and summon support with defensive measures. He knows, in the end he can only make guesses – over long or short, only playing the deck will tell what adjustment he has to make, and who knows if he'll ever need to resort to that as long as he also holds the Raid Raptors.

Still, there is definitely no harm in doing this now, while he doesn't have to fear being ambushed by Academia. He reaches for his cup, sipping at the coffee as he rearranges the green and purple card clusters, frowning faintly while he sets down the cup again.

He hasn't quite yet noticed that the motion has caused one of the cards to slip off the table. Help him out?]


[ B - Entertainment District | whenever Yuto arrived | closed to darkduelist ]

[Shun doesn't quite know what to think of Sakaki's stream, of the revelation that Yuto has somehow been trapped within his code, of that 'Shadow Game' and the duel that follows. Just like that night over a month ago, he's forced to watch and do nothing, hands clenching, he tenses right until the moment Yuto's awareness returns, when his reactions confirm that it's him and not just a puppet of CERES or another bad dream.

One month worth tension bleeds right out of him for good just as he watches the public post – Yuto is alive, is here and Shun is not trapped alone any longer – and he sighs as he leans back into the concrete wall of the rooftop corner that is one of his sleep spots. One month since he's arrived here and in some ways it's been much more exhausting than one week of working with Akaba.

(Akaba gets things done after all, for all that he's secretive, for all that his approach is much too passive for Shun's liking. That is much more than he can say about CERES.)

The lack of an actual enemy to fight, of anything to do but to live through the same routine of training, playing ViViD and watching the Research Building has been wearing on him, has given him too much time at hands to think about Ruri and Yuto, about Resistance and home; especially after he had gotten the truth of that night out of Sakaki, the combination of all above is frustrating to the point of tiring and at this point it's Shun's sheer stubborn refusal to be broken that has kept him from faltering.

Maybe, he thinks as he sends the other a text with his location, with Yuto now here, they'll get more done. They'll figure it out once Yuto is done dealing with Sakaki and possibly Hiiragi from the sound of it and actually gets here... whenever that may be. It doesn't really matter – time is the one thing they have in abundance right now.

Shun closes his eyes once he's sent the text, not really expecting an answer. He is too drained and exhausted to feel anything but muted relief about Yuto's (revival?) arrival and sleep is precious. Two minutes later, Shun has already drifted into dreamless oblivion as he waits.]

Comments

[raidraptors]

[Shun has gotten quite his share of solitude in the past month, but it's not something he's actually used to, not truly, for all that his attitude might suggest otherwise sometimes. All his life there's been Ruri at his side, his younger sibling to annoy and tease and later to hold close and try to protect best that he can (not that it's much, not in the world they live in, but he tried) – until suddenly she wasn't (taken by the pawn that shares Yuto's face). Not quite all his life, but still for a great part of it there's been Yuto to laugh with and to challenge, to rely and lean on in privacy during later days – until suddenly he wasn't (gonegonegone without a trace, leaving Shun to guess and worry and despair deep in unfriendly territory where he can't show that weakness).

In the past year, there's been Resistance – his comrades, the people he will always, always carry in his heart as he fights, because even if he can't protect them, even if they are taken from him, he will do whatever it takes to get them back – but they are at least a dimension away, far far out of Shun's reach (maybe fallen to CERES or the Flamines or Academia in the worst of cases and Shun refuses to think of it. He doesn't do well with helplessness).

This past month he's been alone; nobody to trust, nobody to lean on, not even an enemy to focus on fighting and it's left him off balance and on edge. He's calmer now though, is not feeling as though any second the world might crumble beneath his feet and leave him in free fall down the abyss. Yuto is here. He's not alone anymore.

It's not his actions that have lead to that, there is nothing he could have said or done to take Yuto back, he knows that now. It's been Sakaki all along, the one who's at least partly to fault for Yuto's disappearance but also the one who singlehandedly made sure to bring him here, the one who risked himself, who put himself at CERES mercies just for the faint hope of getting Yuto back.

Shun knows all there is to know about desperate plans – has learned all their shades in the past three years, had launched his very own in his assault against LDS. There's a reason why he hadn't told Yuto the details of it until it was too late to do anything but to pull through with it. Still, that's different.

It was for the sake of getting Ruri back after all.

Sakaki can't claim that kind of connection, can't claim to have known Yuto, not really, and still he didn't hesitate.

Shun didn't wonder about it while he is forced to sit back and watch the stream of that Shadow Duel, or even later when he sent Yuto that text. Now that he's almost (figuratively) stumbling over Sakaki, he can't help but to question, a faint frown curling his lips as he lets his shadow fall right over the other.]

...Why do you care?

[Why risk himself, why put himself on line in a place like this for someone that he has never shared much more with than the look of his face, a ten minute conversation and a card passed down?

That is, in fact, a lie Shun knows deep down, because sometimes when he looks at Yuya he sees the Yuto of their childhood days. Deep down Shun knows that if not for Academia, Yuya might not have introduced Yuto as his cousin, but as his twin and nobody would have ever thought to doubt it.]

[ridethathippo]

[When Shun's shadow falls over him, Yuya doesn't seem to react initially. His eyes are concealed behind his orange goggles, and the pendulum continues to swing, albeit losing its momentum each time. Really, he's considering Shun and his question. The older teen doesn't know how much he's been thinking of his darker counterpart, especially after their first real meeting and discussion of Yuto's disappearance. It's unlikely that anyone could understand what they both went through that night, and the guilt that's been plaguing him since. It may have been the briefest of interactions, but Yuto had shielded him from the battle and entrusted his wishes with his card to Yuya. Shame, gratitude, curiosity... And the theories he's talked about with Arthur-- alternate dimensions and thus a very real possibility that Yuto's his alternate self. Not that that has really taken hold of his thoughts. They may share the same face and other similarities, but Yuya can't see Yuto as anything more than his own person. They barely know each other, but there's this very obvious yet incredibly vague connection that he doubts he'll completely understand (although he'll appreciate it every second). Likely has to do with the fact that they were merged together on their coding level...It makes it easy for him to mentally adopt Yuto on a familial level, surprisingly. (Still a work in progress though.)]

That's a weird question. Why should I not care?

[He doesn't bother lifting his goggles, but even the good-natured smile he puts on is a tad exasperated. Yuya already knows the type of responses that could follow his question. His hand lets go of his pendant so that it drops onto his chest and allows him to fold his arms beneath his head, trying to look relaxed.]

Why do you have to question it? Isn't it easier for you to just be happy he's back?

[raidraptors]

[It's not a weird question, not really, not from Shun's point of view. Yuto is a stranger to Sakaki after all, just like Shun. They are not comrades or friends. They are not even allies, even in the remotest of senses. Shun has to question, has to worry, because trust is precious and never to be given freely or easily. Trust has to be earned and Shun has no reason to trust Sakaki Yuya.

None at all.

In fact, there are so many reasons for him to be wary; given what he knows of the pawn who nearly killed Yuto, who was somehow involved in Ruri's kidnapping, given Sakaki's connection to the Academia brat, given everything Shun knows about his attitude towards the battle field.

It's easy to claim that duels aren't meant for conflict when it's not fact of the reality you live in. It's easy to say that duels are for smiles and entertainment when your home wasn't the one ripped apart into pieces.

Considering that, maybe he should have expected this kind of answer.]

Forget that I asked.

[He shouldn't have bothered in first place.]

[ridethathippo]

[There's more or less an annoyed sound being wrangled out of him because god that's such a Shun answer. And he barely knows him, so it says a lot.]

You know, maybe you'd understand if you had someone who looked just like you and apparently is a part of your very existence! [A tad snippy? Aw yeah. Because he just wanted some peace and quiet for a moment without being badgered about why why why.

Except he inhales deep, and that temporary outburst seems to deflate as quickly as it had arrived.]

...But fine, I'll forget it. [He picks up his pendant again and sits up so his back is facing the older teen.]