Archive of Our Own

“Well, our adventure begins now.“ Kazuma Tsukumo states as he looks unto the mountain he’s set to explore next.

“You guys wait here and be on standby. It will just be us going from here on out. Just the three of us.” Faker smiles to himself knowingly, his back turned to the others.

“It’ll be okay. Don’t worry Chris.” Byron looks at his oldest son comfortingly.

“Father…” Christopher smiles back, having no idea what was about to come.         

Mihael gulped as he looked down the mountain once more, despite Yuma having warned him not to. He just couldn’t help it; descending like this with barely any safety equipment save for the two boys being tied together was wrecking his nerves completely. Dreaming about going on adventures and actually doing it were two different things.

Still, there was no way he was backing out now. There was a purpose in coming here, more than just two teenage boys trying to follow in their fathers’ footste-

“Whoooah!” Mihael squeals as his foots slips and he loses his grasp on the rocks.

But before he can fall, an arm quickly grabs hold of him and steadies him in place.

“Ohff.” Yuma groans as he struggles with keeping up with Mihael’s weight on top of his own,  “Hey there, be careful now. Good thing I was here to catch you, huh?”

After desperately (and embarrassingly) hugging himself to the mountain side as strongly as he could, Mihael eventually lets go of Yuma’s arm with a smile, “Thank you, Yuma. You really saved me just now.”

This seems to shock Yuma, as he struggles to reply, “H-hum, you’re welcome.” he says as he hurriedly turns his reddening face away, “Anyway, the key to both a good climbing and a good descent is all in the foothold. Make sure you find a secure spot, and only then use the rest of your body to climb down. Or up. Whatever you need at the time.”

“I see.” Mihael nods as he listens intently. It wasn’t the first time Yuma gave him this advice, but clearly it hadn’t sunk in well enough, “Thank you. It’s good to know you have some actual experience with this. It makes me feel safer.”

Once again, his words seem to have an effect of Yuma, who trembles as he keeps descending, “Arhm, yeah. You’re welcome…”

As he follows after the younger boy, Mihael can’t help but think it’s sad how Yuma has no response to getting an actual compliment, even in a field he genuinely has more knowledge in than most.

“So, to summarize, if you don’t have the Number cards, then right now, you’re just a terrible duelist aren’t you?” Takashi exclaims smugly.

“What’s with that attitude?” Yuma replies, irritated to have the other boy looking down on him straight to his face, “Wouldn’t that mean all my victories so far were all relying on the strength of the number cards and that guy?”

“Well, that’s just how it is?” Takashi shrugs in a condescending manner, “To summarize, without them there’s no way you can beat Shark and Tokunosuke. You’re relying too much on the numbers!”

Yuma flinches, ‘but I won that duel for you using the numbers…’ he thinks to himself, before shaking his head and taking off, determined to find Shark and finally prove himself to everyone.

He fails spectacularly. His key gets thrown to the ground like trash once again.

When he tries to work himself up by dueling Tetsuo, the other boy is disappointed at him, “I didn’t think Yuma was that kind of person. That duel, he said you wouldn’t use the numbers. But even so that guy…” he says to Kotori when he thinks he far enough for Yuma not to hear him.

But he does.

‘You know, I fought Shark in the first place because of you. It’s not like you could beat him either…’ his lip quivers.

“But see, that’s just because Yuma is an idiot…” Kotori pipes in.

“I know he’s an idiot!”

‘Thanks guys…’ he lowers his head, leading Takashi further away so he can’t listen to them any longer.

But he doesn’t give up. He’ll find Shark again, and one day, he’ll prove himself to everyone.

Even if most of his opponents only give Astral any regard. Eventually, he’ll get through to someone.

“Ahhh!”

“Mihael! Are you alright?” Yuma turns around in a panic, dropping the twigs he was holding unto the floor, running over to the other boy who’s fallen over and dropped his own pile.

“I’m fine…” Mihael mumbles as he takes Yuma’s offered hand, “A spider crawled out of the sticks and onto my arm, that’s all.” he eventually admits when Yuma starts patting him down in concern, even if he’s completely ashamed to do so.

Thankfully, Yuma is not the kind to mock anyone’s failures, “Haha, that would make me freak too.” he jovially laughs as he scratches the back of his head, “That’s why you gotta look over each stick before picking them up. The woods are full of nasty surprises like that though.”

“All those camping trips on TV lied to me…” Mihael whines with a pout. A formerly rich kid really wasn’t prepared for the realities of this kind of life at all. Once again, he’s really glad to have someone like Yuma accompanying him, especially with since the other boy is always encouraging him in a such a sincere manner.

Maybe he can still make himself useful on this trip eventually. In the meantime, they have to gather enough firewood before night comes.

This time, he makes sure to shake each stick before gathering them all on his arms, following up after Yuma, who’s already settling down into their make shift camp, “Alright, first let’s get the tent set up, and then we’ll work on getting a fire started!” Yuma pumps an arm with excitement.

The sight makes Mihael smile softly, “More like, you’re going to get a fire started, but sure, let’s get to it. Before it gets too cold and we end up freezing to death.”

Mihael actually finds himself setting up the tent on his own while Yuma gives him instructions, as the other boy gets too busy with other tasks. It makes him happy to feel like he wasn’t a complete burden during this trip.

The night air ends up being much colder than they first thought. The two boys end up having to cuddle together under a blanket as they wait for their simple stoup to cook. Being so close to Yuma, while the smell of the broth fills his nostrils (which seems much more pleasant than usual because he’s starving by now) almost makes Mihael nod off on the other boy’s shoulder.

Yuma does nothing to push him away. He only gently pets him on the head in order to wake him once the soup is finally done.

“Mihael, leave. I’ll take this duel on by myself.”

“What? I can’t let you do that, Chris!”

“Mihael, listen to me.” Christopher grasps Mihael’s shoulders as he leans down so they can look at each other in the eyes, “We both know we can do nothing more than to buy Kaito some time. So there’s no reason for both of us to perish here.”

“But-”

“Mihael.” Christopher looks at him sternly, “I already failed enough as an older brother. I let both of you stay in that orphanage, and then I let Tron take advantage of both of you as well. And now Thomas is dead. Because I didn’t stop him.” then his voice begins to tremble, his calm façade breaking down, “Please. I can’t be responsible for letting our entire family die.” he lowers his head, wanting to hide such a weak moment of vulnerability from his younger sibling.

“I-I…” Mihael flinches, having never seen his brother like this before. The sight completely undoes his resolve, and his body is suddenly overcome with fear.

The reality of the situation is hitting him in full force now.

“Yuma should be running here as we speak. Go to him. It doesn’t matter what you told him before, he doesn’t hold any grudges. He’ll welcome you back with open arms.” Christopher keeps on pleading.

“Chris…”

“What a touching sight. A useless one, though, as all of you humans will end up being defeated.” Mizael breaks into the brothers conversation as he walks closer to them, having had enough of the pathetic sight, “So stop wasting my time already.”

The brother’s ignore him; Christopher grasps his brother’s shoulders once more in supplication, “Mihael!”

“Guh…” the younger boy finally breaks, tears streaming down his face.

Then he pushes his brother’s arms away and takes off running without looking back, “Ahhhh!”

Christopher sighs in relief as he watches his brother’s retreating form, straightening himself up before turning to his enemy.

“So you just let him go? What a noble sacrifice.” Mizael admits, and for all his mocking, his tone sounds sincere, “Like I said, it will be a useless one. One of us will end up getting to him eventually.”

“Don’t count me out so fast. I was Kaito’s mentor.” Chris glares at his opponent as he gets his duel disk ready, “I won’t let a second-grade Galaxy-eyes user get the better of me!”

“Hmm. Interesting. Let’s see if you hold out long enough for the other one to get away.”

“Chris!” Mihael yells as he holds out an arm in desperation.

He’s greeted with nothing but darkness and his hand hitting the tent.

‘Oh. A nightmare….that was just a nightmare.’ he tries to steady his breathing, but only ends up crying silently.

He’ll never get over the moment he abandoned his brother to die. Where he ran like a coward in order to save his own hide. When he crashed into Yuma’s arms and turned into a pathetic sobbing mess, despite the fact he had been so harsh to the same boy for being weak just moments before-

“You okay there?” a comforting voice breaks him out of his thoughts, a strong arm wrapping itself around his waist.

“Oh. Sorry for waking you up, Yuma.” Mihael furiously rubs his watery eyes before turning around so he can look at Yuma, “I was just having a nightmare, that’s all.”

Yuma makes no comment about the fact Mihael is still heaving pretty heavily, “About the war?” he asks with caution.

“About the fact both of my brothers are dead.” Mihael admits, before launching himself into Yuma’s chest, and starting to cry openly, “My entire family. They’re all gone!”

Once again, Yuma doesn’t mock him or push him away. Instead, he envelops Mihael into a hug, resting his chin on the top of the other boy’s head, “Yeah.” he whispers as his eyes become watery as well, “Me too.”

Mihael looked around the room dejectedly. He couldn’t believe he was back into this cursed place. The other kids had made mocking jokes as he walked by them, and even the staff had not-so-subtlety made comments when his back was turned. Mihael hadn’t paid any mind to them, walking back to this room with his head cast low, interacting with no one for the remainder of the week.

The place was just as bad as he remembered. The small amount of terrible food that wasn’t enough to sustain the needs of growing children, the cracking paint on the walls, the way the staff was indifferent to the kids bullying each other, the air of hopelessness that permeated the whole place. All the more fitting for an orphanage, he supposed.

Only this time, he was alone. There was no Thomas to crawl into his bed at night, no Thomas to hold his hand in the hallways while he stared down the other kids, no Thomas to sneakily drop food from his plate onto Mihael’s. No Thomas to share his memories over the better times and hope someday they would get out of this place.

This time, Mihael was as alone as all the other kids here. And the sheer weight of that realization was enough to crush his spirit entirely.

“Mihael Arclight? There’s a visitor for you.” a sullen looking woman informs him as she opens the door without even knocking.

Mihael nods almost mechanically, and follows the woman out of the room without a word. On the inside, he’s a little hopeful that maybe Yuma managed to come here somehow, and he might be able to see a friendly face…

He finds someone else sitting in the visitor’s room though. Someone he wasn’t expecting in a million years, “Dr. Faker?”

“Hello Mihael. It’s been a while since we last saw each other.” the older man smiles wearily at him. He looks fatigued and downtrodden, as if he hasn’t slept for over a month, “I guess there’s no point in asking how you’re doing.” he states before turning to the staff woman, “Can you please leave us alone for a while?”

The older woman nods, giving Mihael a stern look that clearly says ‘don’t-do-anything-to-fuck-this-up’ as she leaves.

Well, Mihael doesn’t give one iota of a crap about what the incompetent staff wants him to do, so he immediately turns to the older man and glares at him, “What are you even doing here?!”

Faker doesn’t seem fazed at all; he merely sighs as if he was expecting that reaction, looking at the younger boy with tired eyes, “I’ll get straight to the point. I’m here to adopt you. Well, foster more like, since the process is so complicated you’ll likely become an adult before it’s done.”

“And why would you do that?” Mihael almost yells, only stopping himself because he doesn’t want the staff to barge into the room, “Don’t you remember you’re why I ended up here the first time?”

The utter gall of this man to come here, hoping to pass off as some kind of saviour, when he’s the reason he and his brother had to come here. When he allowed Chris to keep working under him, forming a bond with his oldest son, while Faker had already sacrificed their father for his own personal gain in cold blood. For sacrificing Yuma’s father, whose only crime was not walking away when a couple of weird scientists asked for his help.

Mihael loathes this man more than he ever thought he could. While there were people he now hated even more, Faker still symbolized nothing but pain and suffering to him. That’s what his mere existence brought the Arclight, Tsukumo and even his own family.

“I know that.” Faker says, but can’t keep looking at Mihael any longer. This only makes the boy scoff in response, wishing this cowardly sample of a man would leave him alone already.

A tense silence fills the room, but just as Mihael is about to walk away, Faker resumes talking, “It’s just…Haruto is really depressed. It’s no surprise, since Kaito is dead after all…”

“And what? You’re coming here, hoping I’ll become a replacement older brother for him?!” Mihael gasps in utter disbelief.

“Nobody can ever replace Kaito.” Faker states, voice trembling at the second mention of his dead son, “I know I did wrong by your family. I completely sold out Byron in order to save my own child. I didn’t care that he also had three children. And that Kazuma had two as well.” he whispers as if he’s a sinner confessing to a priest. Only there’s no way Mihael would ever absolve him.

“I sold out my own son too. And now he’s dead. And the Barians never cured Haruto, so his body is weakening once again, and I did all of that for nothing!” and with that, the older man breaks down, slamming a fist on the table while closing his eyes and turning his head away. It’s pretty clear that’s on the verge of crying.

Mihael wants to keep sniping at the man he despises so much. But something about what he said, a part of him can understand it. He too had done despicable things in order to keep his family together. A terrible flashback of breaking Yuma’s spirit flashes before his eyes, and suddenly he’s unable to retaliate against the older man.

Images of his father’s form when he returned from the Barian world makes the bile boil in him once more.

Then the thought of an innocent seven-year-old, whom he helped kidnap, deteriorating to the point his father is obviously expecting his death already, all while mourning a dead brother…it makes the bile die back down.

So Mihael remains silent, not knowing what to do with the conflicting feelings stirring inside him, “...”

After a while, Faker finally gains enough composure to continue, “I know I can never make up for what I did to your family.” he admits, still not looking anywhere near Mihael, “But I can’t leave the last of Byron’s children just rotting here. It’s the least I can do.”

“...” Mihael bites down on his lip to the point of tearing the skin.

“I know you’re going to hate me for the rest of your life. It’s your right to do so. And Haruto isn’t going to last much longer no matter what I do.” Faker finally turns to look at him, his eyes having a far-off look as if he’s dead on the inside, “I just want to pay you back at least a little. And that, maybe, since you both lost older siblings, that you and my little boy could find some comfort in each other, before he passes on…”

Once again, Mihael is drowning in conflicting emotions; hate, pity, anger, sympathy, fear and complete understanding. His mind can’t settle down long enough for him to think rationally.

But he knows he can’t just stand there frozen forever.

“...Alright.” he eventually mutters, regret already making his voice waver.

“Darnit!” Mihael groans as another butterfly escapes his net, “I never noticed how fast these bugs were.”

“Hey, Mihael!” Yuma announces his presence by suddenly hugging the other boy from behind, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to catch a butterfly. Keyword being ‘trying’.” Mihael pouts as he keeps staring at the spot said bug previously occupied, “Are you any good at bug catching?”

“Ah, sorry, afraid not. I tried to do it as a kid and I always failed. Kotori used to say it was because I made too much noise while trying to catch them. Hehe, she was probably right. At least Tetsuo wasn’t any good at it either.” Yuma’s eyes tightens at the mention of his former best friend, his smile turning distant, “Anyway, why do you even want to catch one?”

Mihael freezes, unsure if he wants to stir even more unpleasant memories for Yuma, “It’s for Haruto.” he eventually admits, “I figured it would be a good souvenir for him.”

Yuma’s arms tremble awkwardly around him, “I see…well, his health might get good enough for us to go take a summer vacation at the Tenjou’s old country house next year. I’m sure that would do the trick just as nicely!” the other boy covers up his nerves with his usual smile and cheery tone.

With a sigh, Mihael begins to rub Yuma’s arms in an attempt to comfort him, since he can’t bring himself to lie to him any further, “I sure hope so, but I’d still like to take something back for him. You know, just in case.”

Haruto’s health had improved a little since Mihael became his ‘older brother’ two years ago, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. The little boy was still confined to a wheelchair most of the time. The only scenario he could see where Faker would allow the ill boy to return to the countryside would be if things took a turn to the worse, and there was little else to do but make his last months a bit happier.

And truly, Mihael is unsure if he should fully confess to Yuma about this. On one hand, he hates lying to him. On the other hand, Yuma already has enough trouble dealing with his own tragedies without having another imminent one piled on top of him.

“Erm.” Yuma bites his lip, figuring out something is wrong with Mihael, but not wanting to pry, “Why don’t you get him a flower then? He can dry it or whatever, and it’d still be pretty.” he suggests, “Plus, I’m sure he’d appreciate getting something from you specifically, and not…”

Mihael bites his lip, but nods in agreement, “You’re probably right. Giving him a butterfly might be a callous thing to do, even if…” ‘that’s what Faker adopted me for’ he keeps the bitter thought to himself, “Any suggestions on which one I should pick?”

“Ah, that’s what I came to tell you about. I found the stream! We should be able to set a more stable camp-site now that we have a water source. There’s some pretty flowers nearby, so you can use those.” this finally gets Yuma to smile genuinely as he lets go of the other boy in order to point towards the direction of his discovery.

“Alright, thank you.” Mihael smiles as he stretches his arms, “I can’t wait to take a bath. This sun is killing me.”

“Haha, be careful, bugs might be in the water too. And parasites. You might want to wait for me to boil it first.” Yuma grins as he scratches his head, leading Mihael through the woods.

“Wait, so all those sexy scenes of bathing by a waterfall are lies too? Way to shatter my dreams, Yuma!” Mihael whines in a teasing voice, causing Yuma to laugh in response.

They keep joking with each other as they set up a new camp, Yuma boiling the water as promised while Mihael reapplies their layer of sunscreen, complaining about mosquitoes the whole time. He ends up picking some sort of yellow flower he saw on the way, making a note to find out its name later.

Yuma later makes a big ruckus when he manages to catch a fish with a shabby spear he had made on the spot, “See? With me, you don’t have to fear that we’ll starve even if we get lost here!” he grins as he proudly shows his trophy.

“Oh, my dashing hero~!” Mihael swoons mockingly, “Hope you know how to gut it too, cause I sure don’t!” but then he laughs, as he truly is impressed.

Later that day, he ends up slipping on his ass three times when he tries to learn how to spear with Yuma, but he does end up catching something in the end. He’ll get better at this whole camping thing yet!

Neither of them voices what they are actually thinking the whole time. ‘This means we’re almost at our destination.’

A white void is what Mihael comes to, his entire boy reeling with pain, “W-where am I?”

“Oh my god! Thank goodness you woke up! I have to call Yuma.” a female voice besides him cries in relief.

He turns painfully in order to look at the other person, “Kotori? Whe-”

“We’re at the hospital. Don’t try to move yet, you lost a lot of blood back there despite my best attempts. But the doctor says that if you take it easy, you might not even end up with that big of a scar.” the green-haired girl smiles at him. Her hair is unkempt, her eyes have deep bags underneath and are so red they almost look painful, but the way she smiles at him is genuine.

“Scar? Wait, does that mea-” Mihael’s eyes widen as a horrifying realization invades his mind.

“Yes. The numeron code really had no power beyond being a weapon. No time-rewriting or even healing abilities.” her voice quivers as she relays this information, “Everyone that died in the war is still dead. And Astral is back to his world.”

“Everyone? Oh my god!” Mihael gasps as he recalls just what had happened over the course of a single day, “Thomas…Chris…my father? They’re never…” he sobs pathetically.

“I’m sorry.” Kotori looks away, tears glistening her eyes, “Yuma’s not dealing well either. With Kaito and Chris gone, he’ll never see Astral again, on top of everyone else…and his parents are now gone forever too.”

Mihael can’t help but cry openly, not even bothering to cover his face with his hands, “What did we ever do to deserve this?” he moans, the unfairness of it all crushing his entire being, “I hate the barians! Why did they have to involve us in their stupid battles?! This war, the stuff between Faker and my father, it was all their fault!”

Kotori remains silent, her head hanging low as Mihael goes off on his diatribe. “Yuma will be really happy to see you. At least we survived.”

She’s right, but at this very moment, Mihael doesn’t feel very fortunate for that.

He’ll change his mind later when Yuma comes to visit, eyes as dead as when Astral had ‘died’ previously. It’s only then, as they desperately clutch each other’s hands, that he decides to swallow his pain and live as best he can, as he doesn’t want to be another tragedy in the other boy’s life.

“This is it, Mihael!” Yuma’s voice echoed through the empty room.

“Yes, it appears to be so.” the older boy muttered as he looked around the old ruins. Massive, deadly cold and stale air permeating it. The narrow pathway feeling feeble under their feet as they made their way through, the only layer of protection between them and a seemingly bottomless abyss.

And at the centre, the path where once a set of stairs stood comes to a sudden halt.

The place where Byron Arclight and Kazuma Tsukumo last stood before Faker ruthlessly sacrificed them. Both never to return whole to this Earth ever again.

The sight of it makes both boys freeze, their breathing becoming shallow as they take a moment to absorb the sight.

“Hmm…this place feels a lot smaller than I first thought.” Yuma whispers as he tries to shine his lantern around the room.

“You know by the time we just spent walking to get here that that’s a lie.” Mihael replies rather harshly, “You just feel that way because this place is making your heart suffocate.” he breathes as he closes his eyes and clutches his chest painfully.

Yuma says nothing in response, approaching the destroyed path and shinning his light into the hole, “There’s no way we can see the bottom…do you think our father’s bodies could be back there now that the link between worlds is gone?”

“We never did find out if Kazuma even had a physical body in the Astral world, so maybe his body has been here whole time.” Mihael states as he approaches Yuma to make sure the other boy doesn’t lean in too far, “As for my dad…I hope so. Better to have it here on Earth that wherever else that sphere may have taken him.”

The most likely possibility is that neither of their bodies are around. Tron’s decayed form likely disintegrated after his battle with Yuma, and Kazuma’s body might have disappeared when he was sent to the Astral world, only his soul making the trip.

But it doesn’t matter. Either way, there’s no chance they could recover anything to give their fathers a proper funeral, so might as well hope at least their bones still remain on the planet.

What amazing comfort that would be.

Coming here hasn’t given Mihael the sense of closure he was looking for at all; it just makes all of his buried anger flare up again. He wants to bring Faker here and throw him down this very hole. Give him some karmic punishment.

Then he remembers who really started this whole thing, and it just makes him painfully tighten his hold around his lantern, “Godforsaken Barians. Everything about this was their fault. They lied to Faker and didn’t even go through with their part of the deal. What was the point of Faker sacrificing our fathers if their real goal was to have him hunt numbers?”

Yuma turns to him with a pained look, “You know, they technically weren’t the ones to start the war…”

“No, but they were the ones who got Earth involved in it. Say what you want to say about the Astral world, but they never tried to get another planet involved in their own affairs.” Mihael states before glaring at Yuma, “Plus, that doesn’t actually answer my question.”

“T-that…” Yuma opens his mouth, then bites his lips when he realizes he has no answer, “They were still acting in self-defence.” he mumbles weakly.

“And to do that, they almost sacrificed another planet for it.” Mihael scoffs in response, “Yuma, you can’t seriously feel pity for them when they killed almost everyone you knew.”

“...”

That awkward silence is enough answer for Mihael.

And it’s enough to light a fiery rage in him that he didn’t even know was possible.

“If you insist on being such a bleeding heart, consider this; how many people did the barian world even have? We saw a good chunk of it, and most of it was nothing but red rocks and water. No buildings or any hints of a culture at all, save for Don Thousand’s castle.” he begins to list off in a condescending tone, “Whereas when you went to the Astral world, even with a dying population, you still saw a ton of buildings, hints that a civilization existed at one point. And then you found a bunch of them despite their illness. Tell me, how many barians do you think existed beyond the ones we saw and Nasch’s old army?”

Yuma doesn’t answer.

“You think that’s worth a much more lively planet? Even if you do, because they didn’t start the war, then how about adding another planet with a population of 8 billion? One who had nothing to do with the war in the first place?” Mihael grunts through clenched teeth, “Is that enough to justify the fact that we wiped them off?”

Yuma flinches into himself, face contorted in pain, “I…I can’t see things the way you do.” he eventually admits, “The war should have never gotten to that point. We could have worked things out.”

The sheer naivety of that statement makes Mihael both want to face-palm and pull Yuma into a tight hug so he can shield him away from the rest of the world. But he ends up doing neither, too lost into his own pit of despair.

“They didn’t want to work things out.” Mihael counters, “Even after both Don Thousand and Eliphas were gone, the ones who instigated the war in the first place, did Nasch even try to listen to you? After you rushed to his side, after the fact he would have died to Don Thousand without us?”

He pauses briefly so he can put some pressure into the suddenly-aching scar on his abdomen, then shakes his head. This is not the time to get lost in old trauma.

“No! Because even after everything you did for him, he did not trust you. He’d rather be a stubborn ass and stick to his reasoning. You know, the incredibly smart reasoning that caused him to fall into Vector’s hands and sacrifice his entire army in the first place!” Mihael scowls in distaste, “The same reasoning that made him trust Vector again, even though he knew he was traitor because of the way he tricked you as ‘Rei’. And what did that get him? Vector killing most of his comrades, again.” he laughs at that last part bitterly.

“Yeah, what an incredible genius he was. Absolutely suited to be a leader! He was just an idiot who let himself be guided by his emotions over and over again, and got played by everyone. Including Tron! ” by this point, he’s yelling so loudly that his voice is echoing through the ruins, but he’s past the point of caring.

“But I guess I can’t blame him. Why should a cool, amazing duelist like him trust an idiot amateur like you?” Mihael grimaces as he walks over to the other boy, “Isn’t that what you were to him in the end, Yuma? That idiot who always tried to see the best in him? The idiot he could use and then just throw away once his real comrades came back?” he mocks in a sing-song tone.

“Stop that…Shark…” Yuma mutters as his lips begin to quiver.

“Nasch-” he emphasizes through gritted teeth, “Is gone, and I hope his soul perished in the process, so there’s nothing of him left behind!” he spits out in righteous anger, “Stop wasting your heart over someone who kept throwing it in your face! You have people who actually loved you and died because of him and his comrades.”

Yuma’s eyes are full to the brim with tears, and he looks away from Mihael. But this doesn’t deter the other boy, “You’re allowed to be angry at what happened.” he continues as he finally closes the gap between them kneeling down to Yuma’s level, “I’m not like the others Yuma; you can’t hide behind your smile and convince me that everything is okay. I ripped away your spirit once, remember?” he grimaces at the memory of his own sin.

“I know the pain that lies behind it. It’s nothing you should be ashamed off.” he whispers right into the other boy’s ear before wrapping his arms around Yuma’s shoulders and pulling him close.

That’s the action that finally causes Yuma to break, as he begins to heave in his arms, tears cascading down his face. Mihael buries his face in the other boy’s shoulder, crying as well.

He hates treating the boy he loves like this, but it’s something that needs to be said. Yuma can’t hide behind his wall of fake-positivity and cheer forever. Especially not when they’re in the place where the man who taught him to think that way perished. So he has to come to terms with what happened before he subconsciously starts damaging himself as a coping mechanism.

They stay like that for a while, letting their pent-up emotions flow through in this cursed place.

Then Yuma calms down a bit, recovering his voice, “T-they weren’t all bad though.”

“Yuma…”

“They weren’t. Alit…Alit was an honourable duelist. He accepted his defeat fairly, b-before Vector brainwashed him.” Yuma interrupts him in between laboured breaths, “And once I saved him from that, he immediately did the good thing and tried to save his friend. If…if Gilag hadn’t killed him…”

Mihael bites his lip, his mind going back to the moment Yuma was talking about.

Mihael was not happy with this. Not one bit.

To be traveling with a barian after both his brothers got killed due to them was maddening. Even if they did need Alit’s help in coming here in the first place, and Yuma kept insisting he was ‘one of the good ones’.

Yeah, right. He had to admit that the guy was acting different after Yuma dueled with him, but that’s still no reason to trust the enemy!

Then they find his so-called friend, and the ensuing duel makes Mihael want to bite his fingernails off.

“Good, good. Your voice sounds so much better when you scream!” the barian named Gilag laughs as he hits Alit with consecutive burning blasts.

“This is so cruel! Stop it already!” Kotori screams as she hides her face in her hands.

Alit ends up dodging another hit that would have otherwise been fatal, but things are not looking good for him.

Despite himself, Mihael finds himself walking dangerously close, “Give up, you idiot! Isn’t it clear that he’s just going to kill you? He’s not worth dying over!”

“You’re wrong.” Alit glares at Mihael as he struggles to get up, “Gilag is worth it. He’s my best friend. I won’t let him remain brainwashed due to Vector. And since the other emperors don’t seem to care that Vector screwed with our heads in the first place, the job falls to me.”

Mihael blinks, surprised that Alit both noticed that the other emperors were complicit in this, and that he had no issue in calling them out like that.

“But I don’t need the other emperors! I am the greatest gladiator that there ever was, a warrior! I will not fail or fall here!” Alit announces with fervour, turning his attention back to Gilag.

Mihael is not impressed. He can see how Alit is pushing his body to the limits.

But there’s nothing he or anyone can say to dissuade him. And it’s not his job to save an alien anyway. He doesn’t even know why he bothered to try in the first place.

The duel keeps going. Alit ends up keeping only one part of his boast, as Gilag does come back from his supposed brainwashing. At a great cost.

“...the attack of the monster that was destroyed is dealt back to me as damage.”

Everyone freezes. The tiny bit of joy that had been borne from Alit actually getting through to GIlag is immediately crushed.

“B-but, Alit, that means…” the just-recovered Gilag barely has a moment to breathe before the weight of what he’s done slaps him in the face.

If his impending demise affects him, Alit does not show it as he turns to address the humans, “I’m sorry guys. I thought I could win, but this is as far as I go.” he clutches his chest as he tries to keep himself from doubling over, “I guess this is punishment for killing Gauche.” he laughs weakly.

“Hey, Alit-” Yuma begins to approach the dying barian, only for Alit to turn and point at Mihael.

“Hey, you.” he gasps in pain.

“Huh?” Mihael flinches slightly, having not expected the barian to even think of directing a word towards him in his last moments.

“Don’t lose heart because your brothers are gone. You still have one person left that you have to protect. Do you get me?” he clenches his fist as tightly as he can, briefly glancing at Yuma before turning and staring at Mihael straight in the eyes.

The strength of those words make Mihael lose his breath. The way Alit is looking at him…he understands at that moment what the alien means.

He realizes that, no matter their differences, both of them ended up falling for the same boy.

And at the same time, he understands why Alit just did this. It’s the exact same devotion Mihael had towards his family. One that supersedes pursing happiness with someone they love.

A single tear falls down Mihael’s cheek as he nods resolutely, “...I won’t.”

That promise, no matter how short, immediately gets through the barian in front of him.

With that, Alit smiles and turns back to Yuma, “...Yuma, meeting you was totally hot. Farewell my angel. Farewell, my best friend, and farewell everyone else. I know you guys will beat Don Thousand, so I have no regrets.”

Last counter finally activates its last effect.

“ALIT!” Gilag screams uselessly as he runs towards his fallen friend, but it’s far too late.

About two minutes later, Alit’s entire sacrifice is rendered meaningless when Gilag gets killed by pushing Yuma out of harm’s way.

Both barians were just another set of pawns.

“Yes, he was a good…one.” Mihael stumbles, not sure to this day if he considered Alit to be a man or an alien, “But guess what? That didn’t matter. Not one fucking bit.”

He lets go of Yuma, getting up and focusing his eyes on the pitch darkness of the abyss. This wasn’t a topic he liked to think about much; part of it because thinking of one of his former enemies in a sympathetic light only made his feelings over the other barians that much worse.

Because, really, the entire thing with Alit was a cruel joke of fate, and it seems Yuma had not realized that if he thought he could defend the barian’s actions with it. It was time Mihael crushed that delusion for good.

“What did he get for defending you from Gilag and wanting to defeat you honourably? To be back-stabbed by one of his supposed comrades and brainwashed, that same honour forcibly stripped from him.” he starts in a hushed, furious voice, “And not one of his other comrades noticed. Or if they did, they didn’t care enough to try to save him!”

He has to briefly bite down on his lip in order to control his emotions. That part of the whole story just baffled him. While he and his brothers had overlooked a lot of Tron’s behaviours towards them and done terrible things to others, they still always had each other’s backs. Seemingly, such things were beyond the enemies Yuma was so desperately trying to defend even now.

“Seriously, if you noticed there was something off about him in your next duel, how did the beings that were with him for thousands of years not notice?” he squints his eyes in anger, “The answer is simple, because it didn’t matter as long as he did his job. Heck, I bet they were happy when it happened! All that pesky individuality of his got in the way of efficiently picking off us lowly humans in any way he could.”

“And once his supposed enemy of all people saved him, what did he get by trying to do the right thing? His own best friend killing him, laughing all the way during their duel.” he bites his lip as Gilag’s laugh resounds through his mind, as it had done so many times, “Yes, being one of the good ones sure did a lot of good for him!”

Yuma doesn’t answer; and with that, the wind is finally knocked out of Mihael, anger being replaced with emotional exhaustion. With a sigh, he decides that it won’t do him any good to relive such bitter memories much longer.

But he still has one last point to make.

“If anything, it only got him killed faster. If he had been selfish and not tried to save Gilag…then he might have survived. Especially if we had forced him to sit back during the Don Thousand fight because of his wounds.” his voice echoes throughout the ruins even though he was keeping a even tone now, “Being a good person doesn’t matter in a war, where everyone thinks they’re right and are willing to give up all morals for their cause. It only makes one an easier target.”

The, he gives the abyss one last, brief look, “...if you hadn’t beaten Nasch, we would have shared Alit’s fate.” his shoulders drop as he begins to walk away.

And with that, he leaves Yuma alone, both needing to mull over their emotions privately.

By the time Yuma returns to their tent, it’s late into the night. Mihael was just about to go sleep, but he immediately freezes on the spot, almost panicking.

While he did not regret what he had said to Yuma back in the ruins, since it was the truth and he needed to hear it darnit, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel bad for it. Unlike many others, Mihael was not one to enjoy being harsh to Yuma just because the other boy (pretended to) didn’t let himself get affected by it.

He wanted to be one of the few people Yuma could actually go to with his pain, the mountain of vulnerability and depression that he knew was hidden behind the veneer of ‘kattobingu’. To be the one Yuma could go for some actual comfort.

But it was so hard when Yuma was so deep into denial that he refused to even face up to the truth, to even acknowledge he could feel more than just positivity. Mihael had broken down after Faker had adopted him and he had enrolled into Yuma’s class, pouring his heart and eyes out on the other’s boy shirt, spending an unhealthy amount of sleepovers at the Tsukumo household instead of going back to the place the man he still hated resided in.

Despite all that, Yuma had not done the same. He didn’t even visit the monument that had been erected for all the people that had suddenly disappeared due to the Barians using them as energy for their plan. Too afraid to see names in it such as ‘Tokunosuke, Tetsuo, Gauche, Droite, Anna, Fuya, Rokujuro, Yamikawa, Thomas, Christopher, Rio, Ryoga…’

Afraid to come face-to-face that those people weren’t just gone from his life in the same manner Astral now was. They were dead. That the last two had been for a long time now.

And so Mihael had stopped sharing all of his heart. Not telling the full extent of Haruto’s condition or how he still woke up desperately clutching the bedsheets, expecting Thomas to reach out and clutch his hand back at any moment. How he loathed the way his eyes got thinner and thinner as he grew older, the corner of his lower eyelashes extending in a manner that was a dead ringer for Chris.

Even when they had leaned over one sleepover and locked lips in an impulsive moment, announcing to their meagre group of friends the next day that they were now dating, there was a huge emotional distance that they could not breach. And Mihael had had enough of it.

But he still felt bad. He never wanted to be the reason for Yuma to get a far-off empty look in his eyes, not again…

A pair of strong arms encircle around his waist as he keeps mentally degrading himself, “Hey…”

Yuma’s voice trembles even at that single word. Mihael can just feel the way the other boy had been crying for several hours now.

“Hey…” he awkwardly answers, “You feel a bit wet. Did you just bathe?”

“Huh-huh.” Yuma nods against his shoulder, “Sorry for not coming earlier and heating up the water for you.”

“It’s okay, I had to figure out how to start a fire on my own sometime.” he smiles weakly even though Yuma can’t see him, trying to lighten the mood in any way possible, “You made it look much easier than it actually is.”

“Hehe, what matters is that you still did it.” Yuma laughs just as weakly.

Time passes, a tense silence enveloping them.

“You’re not wrong.” Yuma eventually lets out with a quivering voice, “I can’t agree with you…but you weren’t lying either. I just…I just wish you were, I want that so badly!” he sobs at that last part.

“Yuma…” Mihael whispers as he gently holds onto Yuma’s arm. Then he turns around, intent on holding the other boy close to his chest-

Only for Yuma to pull him into a sloppy kiss.

Honestly, with the way the other boy is still sobbing, it can barely be counted as a kiss. But Mihael doesn’t care; he immediately wraps his arms around and pulls him close, trying to keep their lips locked as long as possible. When that fails, he settles for peppering Yuma’s neck with gentle kisses, hoping to calm the other boy down a bit.

That seems to work, as Yuma runs a hair through Mihael’s hair as he cranks his neck in order to give him better access. While his breathing is still laboured, it’s now tinged with something else besides despair. He tries to reciprocate, slipping his hand beneath Mihael’s shirt and running it through the soft skin, gently tracing the outline of the small scar that mars the otherwise perfect skin.

And with that, logic returns to Mihael, who realizes that they didn’t bring any lube at all, so everything about this is a terrible idea.

“Yuma- not here, we don’t-” he tries to calm Yuma down, only for him to shush him right away.

“I don’t care.” Yuma breathes out as he clings onto Mihael, “I want to feel loved for once. Like what I did actually mattered to someone.”

Then he begins to cry once more, his hold on Mihael weakening, “You care for me, don’t you Mihael? You don’t think I’m an idiot for believing in you even after what you did to me, right?” he asks as he stares at his boyfriend with delirious eyes, “You won’t leave me once something more important, or someone better, comes along. Right?”

Mihael gulps, the naked raw pain having an odd effect on him; on one hand, he feels incredibility sorry that someone so pure like Yuma was reduced to this.

On the other hand, he’s glad that the other boy is finally being honest with his innermost fears.

“Of course not. I love you, Yuma.” he states with fervour as he shakes Yuma’s hands off his shoulders, “I’ll never be able to pay back what you did for me.” he keeps going as he flips Yuma over so he can crawl on top of him, “So I’ll always be by your side. Your eternal sword and shield.”

“And there’s no one more important in my world than you.” he whispers as he pins the other boy’s shoulders to the ground, the tips of his hair grazing over Yuma’s cheek, “At least…”

“Not any more.” he states out loud, purely for the benefit of the ghosts that he wishes were still with him in the living world.

“Mihael!!!”

“Argh!” Mihael screams in pain as his body hits the floor. He tries to gather himself up, only to quell over in excruciating agony.

“Stop, don’t try to get up!” Kotori screams as she runs over to his side.

“Mihael…why did you do that? We could have taken him out without taking the brunt of that attack!” Yuma says as he rushes over to his friend.

“You can’t know that…” Mihael states though he can barely speak with the pain, “We needed to defeat him as fast as possible or else-*cough*!”

“Aah, you’re spitting blood!” Kotori squeals in horror as she tries to steady Mihael against her lap, only for her hand to become bloody in the process.

“Mihael!” Yuma screams as he now notices the blood staining his abdomen, “Kotori, take my jacket! We have to stop this bleeding!”

“Right. Help me rip it into pieces!” Kotori says as she struggles to do it herself, hands shaking with panic.

Yuma quickly tears off his signature jacket to pieces, only for someone to approach him from behind, “I’m afraid you don’t have time for that.” a harsh voice rips through the air, “We still have a battle to get through.”

But Yuma ignores his words, turning to his former friend with pleading eyes, “Shark! Help me, Mihael might die if we-”

“My name is Nasch! And I don’t care what happens to him.” the emperor glares at Yuma with no remorse, “If he dies soon, then I guess you’ll have some company for when I defeat you.”

“S-Shark, you can’t mean…” Yuma flinches into himself, not wanting to believe the sheer cruelty of Shark’s words.

“Yuma, he’s serious.” Astral hovers in front of him, as if to make a barrier between hi and the emperor, “He won’t give up his plans even now. We must defeat him for the sake of Earth and the Astral world.”

“B-but I…I can’t-”

“Yuma, if you wait for too long, Mihael will die too.” Astral states in a serious voice as he looks at Yuma in the eyes, “The numeron code might not be able to save him, but if we get this over with fast, you might still be able to get him to a hospital in time.”

“But that means…I have to kill…” he mumbles as realization overcomes him, then he runs his hands through his hair in frustration, “Wahhh, why do I have to choose between my friends like this?”

“Yuma…Shark has already made his choice.” Kotori meekly pipes in as she tries to put some pressure on Mihael’s wound, looking over at Yuma with a defeated look.

“She’s right. The Shark you know doesn’t exist any longer. I am Nasch.” he says as he holds out his arm, getting his duel gear ready, “And I won’t hesitate in killing you if that’s what I need to do to save the barian world! We are enemies in this.”

“S-Shark…”

“*cough* *cough*” Mihael spits out blood once more, then moans in pain.

“Yuma!” Astral yells, looking sternly at his partner.

But Yuma only lets out a big sob as he turns to look at Mihael. His eyes tear up as he watches Kotori try to bandage his wounds, even though the other boy is becoming paler by the second.

He finally comes to a decision.

“Kotori…do what you can for him.” he says as he gets up and turns towards Nasch, “I have to end this now.”

“Yuma, are we certain we should be here right now? Can’t we do this tomorrow?”

‘Instead of waking me up in the middle of the night and dragging me here.  I’m already emotionally exhausted as it is.’ he complains, but only to himself, since he felt he’s been enough of a dick to his boyfriend in one day. He’s so sleepy that the light of the lantern feels like it’s going to burn his eyes off, but he keeps on going. Because Yuma wants them to.

“Nope, I need to do this now. Plus, we’re in the middle of nowhere, no one is going to bust us for going into some ruins in the middle of the night.” Yuma states as he looks to Mihael with a strained smile, tiredness evident in his eyes.

“I know that, it’s just….you’re kinda limping a bit.” Mihael winces as he sees Yuma do it for the third time in a row, “If you were thinking of doing this, then it was a terrible idea to get intimate beforehand with no supplies.”

“Ah, don’t worry so much. Just hold my hand if you’re worried about me falling off.” without warning, Yuma stops dead in tracks, waiting for Mihael to catch up so he can link their hands together. “See? All steady now.” he smiles a bit more genuinely as they resume walking.

This makes Mihael relax a bit, but he still hates the fact that they’re here once again. How is it possible that the air in here seems to have become even more stale and cold since they left a few hours ago?

“I’m surprised you even want to come back here…” he mumbles under his breath. ‘Not after the major argument we had here just a few hours ago, on top of this being our dad’s grave site.’ is what he doesn’t say, because frankly, there’s no need to do it. He knows Yuma is thinking it too by the way the other boy tightens his hold on him.

“I don’t ever want to come back here. That’s why I need to do this now.” Yuma whispers in an urgent tone, “Everything that happened today…what you said, what we did afterwards, the dream I just had…it made me finally come to a decision.”

Mihael desperately wants to ask. But for some reason, it feels wrong to do so. He wants him and Yuma to share everything, but this time, asking for that feels like a violation of personal boundaries. So he remains quiet, merely holding on to Yuma’s hand as they make their ways through these ruins for the third time today.

“Ah, there it is.” Yuma exclaims as the all-too-familiar destroyed path comes into view, “Mihael, please let me go on my own.”

“Alright.” Mihael says as he complies and releases Yuma’s hand, even though part of him is still worried that the other boy might trip. But he’s perceptive enough to know this is going to be an emotional moment, one that he has to take the back seat to.

Yuma's body stiffens as he walks right into the edge of the path, making Mihael’s nerves flare up. He sighs as he stares down into the unforgiving hole. For a while, nothing happens, other than the air seemingly getting colder by the minute, but then Yuma fishes something out of his pocket that Mihael can’t quite identify.

The other boy begins to heave as he hides the object in both of his hands. Mihael doesn’t need to see his face to know that Yuma is crying. Part of him wants to approach him so he can give some comfort, but the smart part of him knows he has to stay put. Eventually, Yuma’s breathing calms down and he lifts his head.

“Despite everything, I always, always considered you to be my friend. I hope you and all the others found peace now.” he whispers as he clenches something in his hand against his chest, “But I can’t keep pretending any more. I have to move on.”

Then Yuma holds out his arm, and Mihael can finally see what he was holding on to.

A locket shaped like a shark’s tooth.

“Goodbye, Shark.”

Yuma’s hand opens. The necklace falls into the pitch-black abyss.

Mihael says nothing as Yuma comes back and grabs onto his hand once more. They make their way out in silence, leaving the ruins of their former lives behind.

“I’m sorry, Yuma.”

“For what?”

“Meeting me has brought nothing but pain and suffering into your life.” Astral admits, head hanging low as he looks away from his partner, “You had no business being dragged into a war like this, ever, much less at your age. It was all because of me.”

“Astral…” Yuma gasps as he looks at Astral’s downtrodden face, his body beginning to tremble.

The war is finally done. All the emperors are gone, and with it, any hope for the barian world. The souls Nasch had tried so hard to protect would now be released once Astral used the numeron code to wipe the planet away. That’s the only mercy they could give the other planet, and Yuma desperately hoped that would have been enough for the fallen Emperor.

And now, Astral was apologizing for something that he had no choice but to take part in, given that was what he was created to do. That chased him like a plague even when he was on an alien planet with no memories; he couldn’t escape his fate even with the help of Yuma’s father…there was no way Yuma was going to let his partner drown in self-hatred after all they went through!

“Don’t say that! Nothing of this was your fault either!” Yuma exclaims with fervour, “Astral, you are my closest friend. Before we met, I always had this sense of loneliness I could never share with anyone else…but you forcing yourself into my life changed that.” the boy smiles tenderly, before shaking his head and replacing it with a confident grin, “Plus, you made me a better duelist! Now I actually have a chance at becoming a champion one day!”

“Yuma…” Astral eyes momentarily flare with hope, then he frowns once more as realization sets in, “I’m sorry that I have to leave you. I can’t even stay one day longer just so we can say goodbye to our fallen comrades.”

Yuma pales at that, and has no answer besides clenching his fists and looking away, “...”

Astral’s expression falls when he sees his partner’s optimism evaporate. Then he takes a deep sigh, a look of determination washing over his delicate features.

“But don’t despair. Your soul is pure Yuma. We’ll meet again once your time on this Earth is over.” Astral says as he hovers close to Yuma. He places his hands over the boy’s cheek and leans their foreheads close, “So promise me, that despite everything, you’ll make the best of your life. You still have Kotori and the others after all.”

“So don’t waste your life. Our reunion is an inevitability.” Astral whispers, and if they could actually touch, it’d take only a slight push for them to kiss, “When we see each other again, I want you to tell me all about the happy life you had.”

“Right.” Yuma says as he closes his eyes, trying to hold the tears back, “We’ll meet again, Astral.”

“I can’t believe the sun is already rising. That place really is bigger than it looks.” Mihael states as they finally leave the musty ruins only to find that won’t need their lanterns any more.

Fresh air has never felt so wonderful in his life before. And it’s good that the sun is almost out, since by this point his will to return to sleep is completely gone.

Besides him, Yuma is silent, looking around everywhere in a jittery fashion. Mihael wants to ask, but he gets the feeling he should wait for Yuma to act, so he settles for merely looking at him as they stand in place.

“Hey…” Yuma begins, rumbling his hands together to keep himself from shaking.

“Hmm?” Mihael replies as he looks over his boyfriend in concern.

“Do you…hate Astral too? And his people?” Yuma eventually asks, voice trembling with nerves, “Regardless of what you said, they were the ones that started things. Surely you have some feelings over the matter.”

Mihael sighs. He really doesn’t want to go over this again. But since it took so much courage for Yuma to ask him this, he has no choice but to reply. If he wants them to share their feelings more, he has to do his part.

“Well, I admit that they were in the wrong too. This whole thing certainly started because of them. I can see why the barians hated them.” Mihael admits as he looks away, “But I’m a human, and can only see things from a biased human perspective. And the truth of the matter is, they didn’t kill my brothers, they didn’t manipulate my father, they did nothing to involve us in the war. So it doesn’t matter who started what. From my human eyes, the barians that slaughtered and used us will always be the worse ones.”

“That still doesn’t make it right.” Yuma insists, but his tone sounds resigned, already accepting he won’t ever change his boyfriend’s mind.

“No, it doesn’t. But I still have nothing to forgive them for.” he emphasizes, “Plus, weren’t they already dying off because of them exiling all Chaos in the first place? Feels like, if Don Thousand had just remained put, he’d have had his revenge in a couple more centuries anyway. His planet would have survived, while theirs perished slowly and painfully.”

“Yeah, things were already pretty bad when I got there. The planet seemed dead at first. And they looked they were cracking from the inside…” Yuma flinches as he thinks back to when he first touched that infected child.

“Makes the whole thing seem even more pointless.” Mihael grumbles through clenched teeth, “All this tragedy because Eliphas and Don Thousand just had to get things done their way.”

And wasn’t that the crux of all wars? Thousands suffering for the benefit of a few people at the top.

Really, humans weren’t any different.

But none of that helped make the pain of everything that happened go away. So his hate lingered, and always would in the back of his mind.

Whereas Yuma would always feel for them, and suffer with the fact that he couldn’t help them and lost his own friends as a result. Neither of those were good coping mechanisms.

Really, Mihael was just plain sick of the whole thing.

“So, what do want to do after this?” Mihael changes the topic with no subtlety, “While I’m in the same school year as you, I will become an adult next year. Faker is already taking care of the paperwork needed for me to inherit my family’s estate.”

“Ah, so you’ll be going back to your old mansion?” Yuma looks at him with interest, seemingly relieved to talk about something else too.

“Yes, and I already know it’s going to be hell to clean it up.” ‘and to decide what memories of my brothers I will keep, and which of their possessions I will throw away.’ he adds to himself, but he knows Yuma thought of it too.

Likely he was just going to permanently seal off their rooms. Not throwing them away completely, but also keeping their loss out of sight. It gave him a weird sort of comfort to know that at least Thomas' doll collection would remain as he left it. Some proof of his existence.

“Well, if you need any help, you know me, Kotori, Cathy and Takashi will be happy to lend a hand. And my sister, if I do her a favour in return.” Yuma replies cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.

“Thanks for that.” Mihael smiles, a bit sad over the fact that small list encapsulates all the friends they have left. Then he shakes his head, not wanting to dwell on the past any longer, “What I would really like, is to not have to live alone though. I mean, I’m sure Haruto is going to spend a fair number of weekends over there, but…” he leans near his boyfriend, hoping he gets the hint.

Going by the way Yuma flushes, it seems he got the point right away, “Ah…” he gasps as thinks it over on the spot, “I suppose you have a lot of room for my parent’s old treasures. ‘Neesan has been complaining about expanding her work studio lately, so I’m sure she would appreciate having my room freed up.”

“Great.” Mihael smiles and leans back, taking a deep satisfied breath. That assurance was a huge weight off his shoulders, “Plus, it’s a lot closer to our future college. I’m sure your family is going to like that.”

This makes Yuma’s face twist awkwardly, “Do you know what you’re going to study?”

“Archaeology. I decided that years ago.” Mihael answers with certainty, “Though the end goal has changed. I’m going to work for a museum instead of going on expeditions.” he admits with some regret, but he has already decided over the matter, “What about you?”

“Hmmm…I don’t really know…” Yuma replies as he scratches the back of his head.

“You don’t want to become an adventurer like your dad?”

“No. I did once, but not any more.” he looks to the ground as his expression turns conflicted, “Going out like this is nice and all…but I don’t want to run the risk of disappearing like he did.” he confesses with a whisper.

“I see.” Mihael nods sympathetically, “I admit, it makes me a bit relieved.”

“I felt the same when you said you wanted to work in a museum.” Yuma admits with a small smile, “I mean, we can always go camping when the urge strikes, but if we do, we gotta do it together!” he adds in a more enthusiastic tone.

“Of course.” Mihael replies with a laugh, “Can’t let my awesome fire-starting skills go to waste!”

“Hehe. And I gotta get us some fish again!” Yuma laughs genuinely for the first time since they found the ruins, before turning serious again, “But seriously…I don’t know what I want to do. Not even becoming a dueling champion feels the same after we had all those duels to the death.” he admits with sadness, looking far off into the distance.

“Yuma…”

“I’m at a complete loss. But I promised Astral I would be happy, so that’s what I’m going to do. Somehow. Kattobingu!” he says as he fist bumps the air, some semblance of confidence finally returning to him.

It’s been years since Mihael has heard that word. It makes his heart soars with relief.

With a hopeful smile, Yuma turns to him, “Will you stay with me while I search for it?”

“Of course.” Mihael replies as he envelops Yuma’s fist with his own, “We’ll find happiness, together.” he promises with a gentle kiss on his hand.

And with that, they gather their things and make way for the mountain side. Ready to leave their past, and all the bones buried in it behind.

It was time to let go of the loss. Let go of the hate and anger. Let go of the regret and sadness. It didn’t matter that they had differing views and feelings on what happened, because now the only way left was forward.

Climbing up the mountain, at slightly different paces and stumbling on occasion, but always together.

Late into the night, two men are hunched over a camp-fire, deep into conversation while their companion has hidden themselves away in the tent.

“Faker also has two sons…but they’re currently living in the countryside since the youngest one has some health issues. It hasn’t been easy on him, so forgive him if he has come across as rude to you.” Byron apologizes as he glances at the tent with a concerned look.

“No problem at all. You really are a good friend.” Kazuma waves Byron off, before leaning over with a mischievous smile, “So…do any of his sons have his ‘unique’ face shape?”

“What?” Byron turns to the other man with wide eyes.

“Haha, come on, you have to admit it’s a bit out of the ordinary. It’s like he’s sucking on a lemon all the time!” Kazuma laughs as he scratches the back of his head.

“I suppose so.” Byron admits with a small smile, “But no, both of his sons have delicate features. They mostly take after their mom.”

“Ah, good for them.” Kazuma laughs, before his face softens with tenderness, “My daughter looks just my wife, a real beauty already. My son mostly takes after me, but I think he got some of his mom’s more feminine side too. I can see him growing tall and into some muscle, but he’ll never be able to grow this thick of a beard.” he boasts as he runs a hand through it.

This makes Byron laugh into his hand, “Then it sounds like he got lucky too.”

Kazuma pouts in mock sadness, before continuing the conversation, “Your son looks a lot like you, besides his hair colour.” he says as he looks to the side, remembering the boy the left behind at the top of the mountain, “Took after you in the brains department too, you must be real proud.”

“He got his hair colour from his grandfather. And yes, I am really happy that he took after me, since the other two likely won’t.” Byron smiles, taking a sip of his drink, “My middle son, Thomas, can be really mischievous, but he’s a sensitive boy at heart. I have no idea what he wants to do, other than perhaps pursuing a dueling career, but I’ll support him regardless.”

“Fittingly, he’s like a perfect mix between me and my wife. Whereas my youngest, Mihael…he’s pretty much a clone of his mother save for his eye colour, that he got from his grandmother. Ironic, since he never got to know either of them…” Byron trails off, staring into the darkness. Kazuma nods, respectfully waiting for him to continue.

Eventually, Byron recovers and goes looks at Kazuma with renewed interest, “Speaking of my youngest, I think he’d like to meet you. He already has a deep interest in old civilizations, and he’s fairly athletic despite his looks. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to become like you when he grew older, though I don’t I’ll ever be able to rest peacefully if he chooses that path.”

“Hey, this is a fine life! It’s not nearly as dangerous if you get some practice early on.” Kazuma replies in self-defence, “Tell you what, next time I take my son on a camping trip, how about Mihael comes along too? That way you can at least know if it’s something he’ll be likely to pursue in the future or not, and prepare yourself for it.”

Byron is silent for a moment, tightly grasping his cup as he thinks the proposal over, “I suppose that doesn’t sound like a terrible idea…though you might have to bring Thomas along too. For all his teasing, he’s terribly protective of his younger brother.”

“Fine by me, the more, the merrier.” the other man shrugs in response, “Plus if he likes dueling, maybe he can give my little Yuma some tips. That boy is enthusiastic, but he hasn’t been able to even grasp the basics of dueling yet. And I can’t help, since I suck at dueling too!” he confesses with a laugh.

“Well, I can’t promise Thomas won’t be a little mean about it…but Mihael is a good kid, I’m sure he won’t mind practising with your son.” and then Byron’s expression turns sad once more, “You know, none of my boys really have any friends. I don’t know if it’s because our wealth pushes most kids away while attracting ones with ulterior motives, but it’s the truth. It’s made them really close to each other, but it’d be nice if at least one of them could make a close friend.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it.” Kazuma leans over and gives the other man an encouraging pat on the back, “Sometimes, kids just don’t connect with each other. Yuma says he has friends, but I can tell they can’t be that close, since he always looks lonely.”

A brief look of guilt crosses his face, since Kazuma is aware him being away all the time can’t be helping with Yuma’s loneliness at all, “It’d be great if Yuma could get a friend too. Heck, his little hide-away in the attic is already full of memorabilia from my adventures. I’m sure Mihael would love to see them, so maybe a sleepover too…”

“This feels like we’re arranging our kid’s marriage instead of a play-date.” Byron teases, wanting to lift up the atmosphere again, “But sure. To our sons becoming close.” he holds his cup in the air.

“And to a successful journey!” Kazuma adds as he clinks his cup against Byron’s.

Inside the tent, Faker smiles, finally having deciphered the last part of the ritual.

As a result, only part of that toast would become true.